


And We Recover

by Jay_Bird23



Category: Ao no Exorcist | Blue Exorcist
Genre: All of the therapy stuff is stuff I've read about or am just making up, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Cigarette Smoking, Eventual Rin x OC - Freeform, Fighting, I Don't Even Know, I actually don't know much but it works for this, I do know there's going to be some fighting in later chapters, I'll add more tags as they come up, I'm Sorry, Mention of Past Abuse, Mentions of past drug use, Minor Injuries, Original Characters - Freeform, Original Transgender Character, Rin is Gay, Slow Burn, Swearing, a lot of swearing, blood mention, character death mention, i don't know what else to put, mentions of past violence, mentions of smoking, non-magic au, possible major injuries in the future., post college AU, recovery from all, uh, we'll see how this goes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-15
Updated: 2018-10-10
Packaged: 2019-04-23 01:26:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 30,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14321508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jay_Bird23/pseuds/Jay_Bird23
Summary: With his extensive history of skipping school and general recklessness, it's no surprise to anyone that Rin gets sent to an alternative school that works as a GED program and a group therapy program. It is a surprise, however, that he manages to make some new friends. With the help of these friends and the friends of his past, he struggles and stumbles to find and stay on the right path while helping those around him do the same.This story does include and OC because I love them.





	1. The first day

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, I know I suck at summaries but still.

A light rain taps a tune against the windshield as Yukio drives, almost making Rin believe that mother nature hates today as much as he does. He doesn’t know nature’s reason to be upset with the day, but he personally hates his life right now because he’s going to school. Not a normal school, but a school nonetheless. Despite what everyone, and he means everyone, tells him, he does know it’s his fault. He’s the one who kept choosing to skip school back in the day and get thrown in juvie. He’s the one who picked a fight almost every day of his life. He knows. He just doesn’t want everyone acting like he doesn’t. 

Like right now, for example. Yukio continues to chew his ear off as he drives Rin to the school and has been doing so for the past thirty minutes of the drive to the damned school. If he’s being honest, and he has no reason not to be at this point, Rin has tuned out Yukio out a long time ago and simply stuck to watching raindrops race across his window. He’s sure that if he actually were to listen to Yukio, he would go off. His temper isn’t the best, but apparently he’s going to the school to get help with that. Either way, he doesn’t really care. 

The car pulls into the parking lot of the school and rides around to the front of the school instead of a spot. His temper starts to boil up again at the sight. Apparently the school hours are only at night, something Yukio mentioned would help keep people out of trouble by occupying their nights. Rin thinks it’s only to succeed in pissing him off. 

Rin grits his teeth together and grabs his bag, reaching out and yanking the door open, only to be stopped by a gentle hand on his arm. His eyes narrow in annoyance and turns, his glare softening slightly when he locks eyes with Yukio. Soft but not babying as everyone seems to look at him. Well, not everyone. Probably half the people look at him like that, the other half look disgusted or angry. The look on Yukio’s face probably feels more like sorrow mixed with hopefulness. 

“I got the late shift at the hospital tonight,” Yukio starts, “so I won’t be able to pick you up.” 

Sometimes Rin wishes Yukio wouldn’t mention the fact that he’s a doctor around him. Don’t get him wrong, he’s incredibly proud that his younger brother became a doctor. It just makes him wish he could live up to the Okumura name Yukio sets with his presence. It almost makes Rin wish he would’ve stayed in school to make his little brother as proud of him as he is of Yukio. TIme can’t reverse, so he’ll have to work on doing that some other way. 

“I’ll take the bus or something,” Rin assures. “Maybe an Uber.” 

Yukio gives a weak smile at the assurance and his shoulders visibly relax. “Alright,” he says. “If need be, I can get someone off shift to get you.”

“I’m not a kid, Yukio,” Rin half snaps, turning his eyes away from Yukio and shaking his arm away from Yukio’s hold to pull the hood of his jacket over his head. “I can get back myself.” 

“Rin-”

“I’ll see ya in the morning.” And with that Rin slides out of the car and slams the door on the way out. He doesn’t spare a glance back as he jogs toward the school to escape the rain, but he does hear the hesitation from the car as Yukio pulls away. 

He could ditch right now. Skip out like he did with normal school back in the day and say screw it to this whole thing. Schools like this are only for people with problems. He doesn’t have problems, not the kind you can help with anyway. At least he doesn’t think so, not anymore. All the counselors offered at his juvie gave up on him, and so did the therapist he went to when he got out. The only people that didn’t seem to want to leave him immediately were Yukio and the five people he actually remembers from high school that he didn’t get in a fight with. 

Well, he got into a fight with Bon, but that was out of what Yukio referred to as worry. It was a fight about him skipping class again, but hey. 

No one’s out here to see him anyway. If he sneaks back after and signs in on the attendance sheet or whatever like he always did, he’d be golden. He-

The scent of cigarette smoke hits his nose sharply and he inhales deeply, remembering the last cigarette he had. Juvie made him quit, so it was before that. It’s been awhile, but he’s sure his body wouldn’t mind another one for old times sake. His eyes wander over toward where he assumes the source of the smoking is and his gaze lock on the coolest girl he’s ever seen. 

Black loose fit skinny jeans not unlike the ones Rin wears himself, bringing him to conclude that they are in fact guy jeans. The only difference is that hers are decorated with paint splatters of every color, blue plaid patches on both knees, and a couple of belts seeming to only be there for decorative purposes while his are plain. Her shirt is dingy red and looks like it has been shredded with scissors, but not in a destructive but a creative way that doesn’t ruin the shirt itself. Her ankle boots have silver studs all across the toes and the look is completed by the black leather jacket she has on top of everything. Her hair is dyed silver, but her roots are visible and the ends are dip dyed blue and purple. 

Rin comes to the conclusion that she might be able to kick his ass in a fight. 

Her eyes flick to him after his few seconds of blatant staring and narrow dangerously, causing Rin’s core to light up in anger. Who the hell is she to try to fight him right off the back? What’s her problem? Then he realizes that she’s more than likely here for the same alternative classes his is and regrets the question. 

She takes one last inhale of the cigarette in her fingers and drops in on the ground, grinding it under her toe almost viciously before shoving her hands in her jacket pockets, pushing off the wall she was leaning against, and turning to head for the door. Rin doesn’t want to immediately follow her in since she might want to start a fight with him, but he sends a quick glance to his phone clock and decides he has no choice but to go in. He’s going to be late if he doesn’t. She doesn’t spare him a glance and he’s kind of grateful honestly. Without her, he’s sure he would’ve gotten lost in the maze called the local high school. 

They both enter one after the other and Rin looks over the other students. There’s only about ten in total, which isn’t a surprise considering what the school is for. No one really looks like they belong here, but Rin himself knows he’s gotten told the same thing. Anyone can be anyone he supposes. So he takes his belongings to the back of the room and takes his spot in the corner nearest the door. His stuff is dropped and his head is buried in his arms, trying to make himself believe that people would know if he left now. Too many people had seen him come in, so leaving would raise suspicion. Plus he could run into the instructor. 

“Hellooo everyone!” 

And there he is. Rin raises his head and immediately wishes he hadn’t. A man with long, clearly dyed purple hair wearing a pair of hot pink skinny jeans and a purple button down shirt under a white suit jacket and a white top hat. Rin finds himself thinking he should have left when he had the chance. 

“Welcome to the True Cross Alternative Academy!” he cheers, dramatically snatching his top hat off and tossing it onto his desk. “I’m your professor, Mephisto Pheles!” His jacket is also removed during his introduction and tossed on his top hat, his arm continuing that movement to grab a clipboard from beside it. “Let’s start with a roll call, shall we? We’ll go in alphabetical order. Let’s see. . . Katsuro Abe?” 

A boy with long, blond hair tied in a messy bun in black sweatpants, a light blue T-shirt, and gray sneakers lifts his hand lazily. Rin’s eyes glance over him but his eyes are drawn to the person a few chairs beside him. The girl from outside sits near the window clear on the opposite side of the room from where Rin sits and two rows up, staring flatly out the window to watch the rain hit the glass. From this distance, Rin can see a shiny something glittering on her ear, but he can’t see what it is. A spark of curiosity wells in Rin’s core and he squints a bit to see better. 

“Ayame Hasigawa?” 

The girl pulls her attention from the window and her hand lifts from the desk, earning a nod from Mephisto before he returns his attention to the list. “Rin Okumura?” 

Rin’s hand lifts and Mephisto looks up and nods at him much as he did with Ayame. Ayame’s attention returns to the window, and Rin returns his head to his arm nest on his desk, his mind running through what he’s going to make for dinner. 

“Alright that’s it!” Mephisto says tossing the clipboard back on the desk dramatically and folding clasping his fingers together in front of his chest. “Introductions over! Now we can get to the fun stuff!” A slight shuffling sound is heard and Rin lifts his head, watching as Mephisto moves behind his desk and pulls out a brown paper shopping bag. “I brought notebooks!” he says, reaching in the bag and pulling out a handful of marble notebooks of different colors. “Everyone gets one, I don’t care what color but everyone needs one.” Mephisto moves toward the front row and extends the notebooks toward the student who sits there, nodding approvingly when she accepts it and selects a blue one before passing along the rest of the stack. “Great!” he says as they continue to pass around the notebooks. 

“Oh! For the record, we do have one more student who will be joining us tomorrow,” Mephisto says as the notebooks somehow make it back to him before the last half of the class closer to the front. “Personal reasons came up, so he had to miss the first class, but fear not! I will catch him up tonight!” Rin selects a blue notebook and sets it down before standing and moving to the blond guy to pass the stack. “For those asking, he is my brother, so it’s nothing weird if you were thinking anything inappropriate.” 

Ayame ends up with the last notebook, red cover Rin notes. 

“No one but you is going to see these notebooks unless you want to share it with someone or me if I believe you’re about to do something to hurt yourself or anyone else.,” Mephisto assures. “Anyhow, let’s get started!” He claps his hands together in an enthusiastic way that makes Rin roll his eyes. “I’m not going to ask you why you’re here, but I am going to ask you to write down something you want everyone to know about you right off the bat. You can write down as many things as you want, but I only want you to tell us the most important stuff. I’ll give you a few minutes to get everything down.”

What is there to know? Rin thinks, reaching down into his bag and pulling out a pencil. I have a temper? Wait, people may need to actually need to know that. He scribbles that down. What else, what else? His eyes float up in thought and somehow land on Ayame, kind of surprised to see her writing furiously in her notebook. What could she possibly have to say so bad?

“Time’s up!” Mephisto announces, somehow managing to snatch his top hat from the desk and waving it around for effect. “Who wants to go first?” 

Surprisingly, at least to Rin, Ayame’s hand shoots up and she rises to her feet before Mephisto can acknowledge her. “I’m Ayame,” she starts quickly. “I’m female to male transgender. I won’t answer to anything but male pronouns, and I will fucking fight anyone who doesn’t respect that.”

Throughout her-his, Rin remembers to correct- his speech, Ayame was slowly scanning the room and looking everyone in the eye, allowing Rin to see the black half ring in his nose. Rin had never found a piercing more attractive than he did now. Once the speech is over, he nods in a finalizing way and drops back to his seat. Then Rin watches him exhale heavily and slump down in his chair. 

“Excellent!” Mephisto says, grabbing the clipboard again and a pen. “I can’t allow you to fight anyone, but I will make sure they are corrected when they mix up anything.” Ayame nods once but doesn’t seem to have any energy to do anything but that. “Wonderful! Who’s next?” 

One by one, the class goes and tells their facts. One of them can’t be around any type of nut or she would actually die. Another one had an addiction to meth and is coming off of it really bad. Katsuro likes poetry and hates the dark. After everyone else, Rin stands and clears his throat. “I’m Rin,” he starts. “I have a bad temper and I like to cook.”

“That’s great, Rin,” Mephisto encourages as Rin sits back down. “Everyone’s was wonderful! I’m glad we could share that with the group! Once the first bit of sharing information is over, it gets easier. And Rin, I’m glad you like to cook because we have a few cooking classes scheduled in the coming weeks, so maybe you can help lead.”

Rin leading something? He could laugh, and has to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from actually doing so. “Maybe,” he settles on quietly. Ayame’s eyes flick to him for a moment, and so does Katsuro’s, except Kasturo’s eyes linger and Ayame’s flit away quickly. Rin narrows his eyes when Kasturo doesn’t look away. Katsuro looks away quickly after that. At least Rin knows his glare still works if he needs it to.

“Great! Now, since this is still supposed to be a school environment, I will now be handing out the syllabus and class schedule.” A chorus of groans comes as a response. “Now, now, if everyone went to school in the first place we wouldn’t be here, now would we?” The room falls silent. “That’s what I thought.” He reaches back on the desk and comes back with another stack of papers, once again moving forward and handing it to the student in the front row. “Once everyone has one, we’ll spend the rest of class going over the schedule and I’ll be assigning your homework.” Another, smaller, chorus of groans. “I know, I know, terrible. Now keep it moving, the faster we get this done, the faster we can leave. It won’t be like this everyday though, so don’t get too comfortable. I just figured that a short first day wouldn’t feel too overwhelming. Plus not everyone is here, so we can’t get too far ahead without him, can we?” 

###### 

As promised, Mephisto went over the syllabus in immense detail, eating up about an hour on the three page sheet itself. Not that Rin is complaining. It’s better than how other teachers went over things. Now that he knows what he’s in for, the dread he feels about school starts to ease up. The homework that was assigned, however, is the only thing that keeps the dread from completely fading. How the hell is he supposed to write a page about why he did what he did to get sent here? He wanted to. That’s it. There’s no way to get a full page of words out of that. 

He pushes the door open and steps out into the night, a deep frown setting itself on his face at the increased speed of the rain that falls just beyond the awning. Sadly, the next bus home doesn’t come for another hour, and he doubts he’ll be able to stand in the rain for an hour without finding a way to get into trouble. What can he say, he gets bored. That’s also the thing he’s trying to avoid, so he quickly clears the thought from his head. Maybe he can call for a cab. Does he have enough money for one? His house is about a half hour drive from here. How much would that cost? 

The door opens again and Rin glances at the new arrival over his shoulder, stiffening slightly when he locks eyes with Ayame. From this distance, Rin can not only see the half ring in his nose, but he can also see the industrial piercing in his left ear, the three silver hoops in his lobe, the black diamond in his right cartilage, and the small red hoop around his tragus. A few bits of tattoos peek from under the collar of his shirt, but it’s mostly obscured by the shirt. 

They stand there for a moment just staring at each other, listening but not looking at the other students as they filter out around them. Rin does notice Mephisto, however, and how the instructor lingers in the doorway to watch the interaction. Probably to intervene if anyone starts fighting Rin ventures to guess. Not that he blames him. Both he and Ayame have admitted a potential willingness to fight should an occasion arise. But neither of them make a move. 

Finally, after what Rin would guesstimate to be about forty-five seconds, Ayame’s hand moves to his pocket. Rin tenses and he spots Mephisto do the same, all eyes watching Ayame’s hand move to his pocket. . .

. . .and withdraw a set of car keys. 

Rin’s shoulder slump and he releases a silent breath he didn’t realize he was holding. Ayame either ignores the action or doesn’t realize it happened, simply raising the keys up and tilting his head in a silent question. Wanna ride? it says, and Rin nods in a silent response. Ayame drops his arm back to his side and nods toward the parking lot before turning and starting off. Rin tightens his hold on his backpack and follows Ayame by a respectable distance, making sure his hood is up securely and almost wishing he could give it Ayame. The leather jacket he has on doesn’t have a hood. 

They end up at a black, four-door Mustang and the headlights flash when Ayame unlocks the doors, opening the back and tossing his bag in. Rin takes it as an invitation to do the same and they slam their doors at the same time before Ayame moves to the driver’s seat and Rin to the passenger. Again, their movements are simultaneous and the doors slam shut again, this time causing Ayame to spin in his seat to face Rin. “If you slam my door again, I’m going to break your nose on the dashboard.” 

It takes a moment for Rin to catch on to the severity of the threat, mainly because he made it without changing his neutral facial expression. His jaw drops in disbelief once he catches on and he throws a hand in the air, failing to notice how Ayame tense when he does. “You did the same thing!” he defends, his tone annoyed to the point that his voice changes pitch with almost every syllable. “How are you going to break my nose for something you do? That sounds pretty hypocritical to me!”

“It’s my fucking car!” Ayame retaliates, previous tension washing away as he leans forward toward Rin slightly. “I paid for it! If it breaks, I fix it! I pay insurance! I painted it! It’s mine! If you break anything, you’re paying for it! I’m just trying to save you some money!”

The statement automatically translates it as he’s trying to save Yukio money, as that’s who’s going to have to pay for everything. Rin still doesn’t have a job yet, so anything he would have to pay for would come from Yukio’s pockets. It’s already hard enough for Yukio to support both of them with just the basics. Adding an unnecessary and completely avoidable car payment . . .

The fire dies in Rin’s core and he slumps back in his seat, muttering out a defeated compliance and locking his eyes on the dashboard. Ayame’s eyebrow rises at the change in demeanor and slumps back as well, studying Rin for a moment in a way that makes the latter uncomfortable. Apparently Ayame saw whatever he was looking for because he turns around faces the steering wheel. “Where are we going?” he asks, shoving the key into the ignition rather roughly and turning the car on, taking a moment after to put his seatbelt on before shifting into gear. 

“Justice Trails apartment complex,” Rin mumbles, slumping further in his seat and folding his arms over his chest. One minute. Two. No-one moves. Three. Rin looks up at Ayame, his hands no longer on the wheel and instead fiddling with something on his phone. “Are we. . .”

“I’m not moving until you put on your fucking seat belt,” he informs coolly, selecting some song that starts playing through the speakers. “Safety.”

Rin’s eyebrow slides up as he watches Ayame set his phone in the cupholder and look at him. “Are you fucking with me?”

“I don’t drive unless everyone has a seatbelt on,” Ayame replies. “My mom died when she got hit by a drunk driver and flew out the windshield.” Horror and sorrow floods Rin’s core, but he doesn’t have a chance to voice anything before Ayame looks him in the eye. “Seatbelts save lives.”

Rin doesn’t try to argue, instead reaching up and pulling his seatbelt on without further protest. “I’m sorry,” he says once the belt clicks and Ayame finally starts moving. “I didn’t know.”

Ayame shrugs as he turns out of the parking lot and onto the main road, finally remembering to flick on his headlights and windshield wipers. “We just met,” he reminds. “Plus it’s not something I exactly lead with in conversation. ‘Hey. I’m Ayame. I’m trans and my mom’s dead.’ Doesn’t exactly come off as a good first impression.”

“I mean, my mom’s dead too,” Rin admits quietly. “So I guess we both have the first impression problem.” 

Ayame huffs out a half breath of laughter and the corner of his mouth quirks up a fraction of an inch. “You stared at me for a solid fifty seconds, dude,” he says, the amusement in his tone causing Rin to flush harshly in embarrassment. “I’m pretty sure that’s the only first impression I’ll ever care about for the rest of my life.”

“I wasn’t staring!” Rin exclaims as they make it to an interstate exit. “I just thought you looked cool!”

“So you stare?” Ayame inquires flatly. “That’s one way to break the ice.”

“I wasn’t staring!” 

Ayame hums a quiet response and then they lapse into silence, the only sounds between them being the rain on the car and the music that comes from the stereo. Rin finds himself surprised at the bouncy J-pop that Ayame selected. Based on his appearance, Rin was almost certain he was going to get something between hard rock and metal instead of this. He can’t judge a book by its cover he supposes, and that’s the only thing that keeps him from voicing his concerns. 

Not too long after the drive starts it ends, the gated entrance of Justice Trails appearing in front of the car before Rin realizes. In fact, Rin wasn’t really paying attention to the drive when the conversation stopped, opting to try and keep himself awake despite being in the perfect situation to. He doesn’t even realize that Ayame practically flew down the interstate at a speed just below reckless and tinkered with his phone to change the song more than once during the drive. 

That said, Rin is more than startled when Ayame smacks his arm with the back of his hand to wake him up. “Which apartment?” Ayame asks, his tone suggesting that he had to ask more than once and is starting to get annoyed. 

“Uuh, 4339,” Rin slurs, quickly swiping away the small trail of drool that started to fall when he spoke. “4339.” Ayame nods and scans the numbers, only sparing Rin a glance when the latter reaches in the back for his bag. “Thanks.”

“Hm,” Ayame hums as he pulls into an empty parking spot in front of the indicated apartment. He shifts into park and Rin opens the door, watching Ayame as he fishes in his jacket pocket and retrieves his pack of cigarettes and a lighter. “See ya,” Ayame says shaking a cigarette out and holding it between his lips. 

“Yeah,” Rin says, still eyeing the cigarette as Ayame lights the end and takes his first inhale. “See ya. . .” It takes a few seconds for Rin to realize he’s staring again and he shakes himself out of it, trying to ignore the nicotine smell that wafts in his nose just before he opens the door. Despite his rush, Rin manages to not slam the door closed and he makes his way to his apartment door, his hand shaking as he attempts to get his key in his lock and get inside. He can’t go back and ask to bum. He just got completely clean. He can’t fuck up. Yukio would notice. 

Rin steadies himself quickly after that and exhales deeply, running a hand through his damp hair and letting his bag drop beside the door. A sudden exhaustion hits him and his body shifts into autopilot. His shoes are quickly toed off without being untied and his jacket is dropped on top of his backpack. The couch suddenly looks inviting and Rin takes it openly, trudging forward and flopping face first into the worn cushions. He barely has time to make himself comfortable before he falls asleep.


	2. Surprises

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I gotta be honest, I didn't think this would get any attention. Turns out I got two bookmarks. Thanks!

Rin only wakes up when the door opens, which happens to startle Rin so bad he falls off the couch. It doesn’t take him long to get off the floor and he strikes a dramatic karate pose for self defense. Shiemi stands in the half opened doorway and blinks a few times, so they both just stand there for a moment to process the happenings. “Good morning, Rin,” Shiemi greets, still staring at Rin’s haphazard pose as if trying not to laugh. “How are you?” 

A few seconds pass before Rin nods. “I’m alright,” he answers. “Bit hungry.”

“Want breakfast?” 

“Yeah, sure.” 

It’s only then that Rin lowers his stance and Shiemi enters the apartment, Rin finally taking the time to yawn and stretch himself awake. It’s not an unusual occurrence for Shiemi to turn up at the Okumura apartment, what with two practical kids living alone and trying to take care of each other in the house. Yukio even gave her a key of her own to get in whenever she wants. She doesn’t come over just to take care of them either, they are pretty good at cooking and cleaning after themselves. Shiemi just brings them some medicine or baked goods her mother makes and occasionally chases Yukio to bed when he won’t listen to Rin. And then, of course, there are moments she just comes over to see them. 

“Is there anything special you want to eat?” Rin asks as they make their way to the kitchen. “I think we have stuff for omelets?” 

“That sounds good,” Shiemi says, stopping just short of the entryway as Rin heads to the fridge. “If not, do you wanna take a trip to the store? I have to go anyway and I only stopped by to make sure you got in from school alright last night.” 

Rin translates it as she wanted to make sure he wasn’t out causing trouble and a small flame of annoyance lights up his core. He manages to not spit the insult he feels working on his tongue and forces a smile instead. “Where else would I be?” he asks, tone a lot sharper than anticipated. “The church is gone and everyone moved. I don’t have anyone else to crash with so. . .” He feels her nervousness from across the room. A small part of him thinks good, she doesn’t have the right to assume things, right? 

Another part of him is disappointed in himself for letting that part think that. Shiemi is one of the few people that stuck by him through the shit he put everyone through. She’s just trying to help.

A harsh breath forces from his chest, but he doesn’t feel like apologizing. “We don’t have milk,” he announces from the fridge. “Can you give me a ride to the store? Yukio’s asleep.”

The relief that washes over Shiemi is immediate and intense. “Of course!” she cheers. “Get your shoes.” 

“I have to get money first,” Rin says, turning and walking toward her to leave. “I’ll be right back.” Shiemi makes a sound of approval and lets him pass, and Rin can feel her eyes on his back up until he starts up the stairs. 

Yukio is the only one with money for now, so Rin has to go ask him for it. He hates that he has to ask for money like a child when they’re the same age and he’s the older twin, but he knows it’s probably for the best. If Rin had his own money, he’s sure he’d just buy a plane ticket and leave. Not the best thing for someone trying to turn their life around and get people to trust him. So until he gets a job, he’ll ask for money. 

Rin knocks lightly on Yukio’s bedroom door and waits, listening for and receiving a tiredly groaned response before pushing the door open. Yukio doesn’t even shift from his spot in bed when he grumbles what Rin can only assume to be a ‘what?’ into the pillow his face is buried in. “We need milk,” Rin practically whispers. “I need money so Shiemi-”

“There’s a ten in my pants pocket,” Yukio interrupts, lifting a heavy arm and motioning to the crumpled pair of scrubs on the foot of the bed. “Get some bread too.”

“Thanks,” Rin says, moving forward and grabbing the pants. He shuffles a bit to find the pockets in the dark, but he does it relatively quickly and grabs the indicated bill. “I’m going to make omelets when I get back,” he informs as he pockets the money. “Want one?” 

“Please,” Yukio accepts. “I’ll see you when you get back. Tell Shiemi I said thanks.” 

“Will do.” Rin doesn’t waste anymore time and slips out of the room, making sure to shut the door quiet enough as to not disturb anymore of his brother’s sleep. A heavy yawn of his own pushes up his core and he cringes at the taste of his breath, deciding on a side trip to the bathroom before he goes downstairs. He relieves himself quickly, brushes his teeth, and runs his fingers through his hair a few times to straighten it, shrugging at his slept in clothes and heading down to meet Shiemi. “Ready.”

“Alright,” Shiemi says, hitting a few buttons on her phone before locking the screen and sliding it in her jacket pocket. “Shoes?”

“By the door,” Rin answers. “I’ll get them on the way out.” Shiemi nods and leads the way out, pausing to watch Rin shove his feet in his shoes and grabs his house key and wallet from his bag. Luckily the rain stopped, so Rin doesn’t have to bother with finding an umbrella in his room.

They head out and make their way to Shiemi’s light blue Cooper and Shiemi tells Rin he can just move everything to the back while spewing embarrassed apologies. Rin assures her he’s fine as he moves two ready-for-ground plants and a bag of seeds from the front to the back. The process doesn’t take more than a few seconds and soon the two are on their way to the store. A majority of the ride is spent in silence, letting the soft beats of Shiemi’s playlist the main sound shared between them. Shiemi will occasionally break the silence to ask Rin a question about his school and whatnot, but other than that it’s a quiet ride. Five minutes later, Shiemi parks and they both exit car and head toward the store. It’s a small Mom-and-Pop place Shiemi got everyone going to in order to support the local farmers, but all Rin can associate with it is the memories of his past. 

He fought more than once in the alley beside the building, smoked a few somethings behind the store near the dumpster with the stock boys, and various other things that he shouldn’t have been doing at the time. Ah well, time can’t be turned around. He can’t waste time regretting things. 

A car he passes catches his eye and he turns, spotting Ayame’s black Mustang parked a few spaces in front of where Shiemi’ parked. His eyes widen and he turns back to the store. “No fucking way.”

“Rin! Language!” Shiemi scolds, lightly smacking his arm with the back of her hand. “What?” 

“The guy who drove me home is here,” he informs, absentmindedly rubbing the assaulted spot on his arm. “I didn’t think he lived around here. I haven’t seen him around before anyway.”

“Is he nice?” Shiemi asks. “I mean, you just met him, so that’s probably not the best question to ask, but-” 

“He’s has a temper,” Rin interjects. “I can’t tell if it’s worse than mine, but it’s there. And he owns his car himself which is a big deal. He smokes too.” 

“He sounds. . .tricky,” Shiemi warns. “Be careful with him. He could be a bad person.”

“We’re all bad people, Shiemi,” Rin mumbles as they enter the store, “that’s why we’re going to that school. It’s also a reason why I probably should be his friend. I could get rides from him.” Shiemi remains quiet and Rin can’t help but think he offended her with his questioning her judgement. He changes the topic to avoid anything. “I need milk and bread,” he grumbles, a new spark of annoyance in his core as he shoves his hands in his jacket pocket. “I’ll meet you back at the front.” 

“Alright.” 

They head in opposite directions to complete their tasks, only a few seconds passing before Rin starts wishing he brought his headphones. To fill the musicless void he finds himself in, Rin tries to focus on the poppy music playing from the speakers overhead. His feet move automatically as he traces the path he’s walked so many times in the past, easily weaving around other customers and displays as he makes his way toward the bread aisle. 

Only to run into someone as they exit the aisle he was walking in to. 

His chest hits a rough shoulder, but it doesn’t take him long to realize that the shoulders themselves aren’t rough. That would be the small spikes attached to the jacket the shoulder owner wears. “Ow!” Rin cries, his hand moving to the impact point on his chest as he steps back. “What the hell!”

“You’re the one spacing out,” a calmly familiar voice says in response. “Focus dumbass.” 

Of course. “Ayame?” Rin asks, though he already knows the answer when he looks up. “I didn’t know you lived around here.” 

Ayame shrugs and shoves one of his hands in his pockets, the other occupied by a hand-held shopping basket that hangs lazily at his side. “I don’t,” he says. “I just come by every once in a while because local small businesses are an important part of modern society. Plus they’re the only ones who sell my brand of jelly, so there’s that.”

“How come-” His sentence is stopped short when he catches sight of a dark bruise blossoming on the side of his face, circling his left eye and oozing onto his cheekbone like a ink blot. “What the fuck?” he says quickly. “That’s new.” 

Another shrug from Ayame, but now Rin is aware of the stiffness of the action and the twitch of a wince that he tries to hide. “Shit happens,” Ayame answers plainly, a hint of an edge working in his tone. “I don’t wanna talk about it.”

Rin, who had his mouth open to do just that, snaps his jaw shut and tries for a nonchalant shrug. “Fine,” he responds. “Did you do the homework yet?” Why would he pick that topic?

Ayame raises an eyebrow. “Why the fuck would you pick that topic?” 

Rin feels his face heat up. “It was the first thing I thought of!” he defends. “I’m not good at talking to people, ok? Gimme a break.” 

The eyebrow on Ayame’s face rises a bit higher before he rolls his eyes. “Fine,” he relents. “Look, I gotta run. See ya later, ok?”

“Fine,” Rin agrees. “But hey! Is there a way I can get a ride back tonight too? If I can’t find one before then?” 

“I don’t see why not,” he says with yet another stiff shrug as he slides past Rin. “Are you asking for a ride there too? If so, I need to know.”

“No,” Rin answers, turning his body to face Ayame as he exits the aisle. “I think I can get my own ride there.” 

“Cool,” Ayame responds, not bothering to turn and face Rin as he makes his way toward the checkout line. “See ya.” 

“Bye.” Rin sees as Ayame takes a spot in a checkout lane before he turns and enters the aisle, startling harshly when Shiemi appears in his face. “Fuck!”

“Language!” Shiemi shushes again. “Who’s that?” 

Rin clutches a hand to his chest to steady his heart rate and has to bite his cheek to keep from firing an insult as a response. “That’s the guy I was telling you about,” he explains through tightly gritted teeth. “The one that drove me home last night.” 

Shiemi’s eyebrow slides up and she tilts slightly to look past Rin. “That’s a girl,” Shiemi states, causing Rin to stiffen nervously and turn his head to face Ayame. “Is that his sister or some- hey!”

Rin doesn’t answer verbally, instead grabbing Shiemi’s arm and dragging her into the bread aisle, sending continuous glances over his shoulder to make sure they aren’t being followed. It’s only after they reach the end of the aisle that Rin stops, turning to Shiemi and placing both hands on her shoulders. “You can’t say that about Ayame,” he corrects, a hint of contained fear easing into his tone as he speaks. “He’s transgender and he introduced himself by saying he will fight anyone who calls him anything but what he is.” A deep crimson floods Shiemi’s face at the physical contact, but Rin is too busy sending another glance down the aisle for Ayame to notice. “You gotta be more careful, alright,” he continues, his tone steadying out once he confirms that Ayame didn’t hear and isn’t coming after them. “I don’t want you getting hurt. He seems like someone who won’t care if to check breakability levels before throwing hands, and you’re pretty breakable.” 

“Ye-yeah,” Shiemi stammers out, face so hot one could practically see steam coming from her ears. “I’ll keep that in mind.” 

“Good,” Rin says, patting her shoulder once before releasing her. “Go get the rest of your things. I still have to make breakfast and try my homework.” 

“Alright,” Shiemi replies breathily, robotically turning on a heel and practically marching toward the meat section. “I’ll meet you later.” 

Rin raises an eyebrow at the strange behavior, then shrugs and heads back toward the bread he passed in his flight. Shiemi’s always been strange, so that’s not necessarily a new issue. Now which brand of bread does Yukio like to get again? 

#####

Another sheet of paper is balled up and thrown across the room in a fit of anger, dwindling his spare spiral notebook page count to practically nothing. “How hard is it to write one fucking page!” he shouts, slamming the pencil on the table and balling his fists in his hair. “One fucking page!” 

“If you keep screaming like that, the neighbors are going to come over and yell at you again,” Yukio warns from the kitchen as he finishes up the rest of the breakfast dishes. “You can’t fight them every time you’re in the wrong you know.” 

“Shut up, Four Eyes!” Rin bites, though his volume does lower considerably. “I’m trying to do homework.”

“I can hear that,” the younger twin says, emerging from the kitchen as he dries his hands on a dish towel. “What’s the assignment? Maybe I can help.” 

Yukio is was always offering to help back in the days when Rin actually attempted school, and he still did even when Rin stopped going all together. He would try to teach Rin whatever he was learning about in his classes and left extra notes on Rin’s bed for him to look over if he got the chance. Rin would always have extra time, he just chose to spend it out the house. 

“I doubt it,” Rin says, looking up when Yukio sits on the couch beside him. “I have to write a page about what I did from my own perspective. I guess he read about the fucked up shit we did and now he wants to hear it from us directly. Kind of sick if you ask me.” 

A thoughtful hum rolls from Yukio’s core and he shakes his head slowly. “I don’t think it’s like that,” he starts slowly, trying to piece together his phrasing carefully as he always does when talking about a subject that could set Rin off. “I think. . .he wants you all to be honest with yourself about why you did what you did. He wants you to dig deep and explore your own subconscious and find the real reasons why you went out and. . .what did you call it? ‘Teenage rebellion and shit’?” 

Rin laughs at the sound of his words coming from his brother’s mouth, mostly from surprise as Yukio doesn’t swear often or casually. In fact, Rin can only think of one instance when Yukio actually swore at him, and that was out of anger and fear right before the shit hit the fan. To hear it slip so casually from a paraphrase is something Rin was sure he would have to sell his soul to hear. 

“Yeah, whatever,” Rin jokes, leaning over to bump Yukio with his shoulder. “Go away. You still smell like hospital.” 

“I didn’t shower last night,” Yukio explains, rising from the couch and draping the towel over his shoulder. “I was too tired. I’m going to now. I’ll call you when I get out so you can get in.” 

“Cool,” Rin says, eyes on his paper as he listens to Yukio make his way upstairs. “Don’t use up all the hot water!” 

“We’ll see.” 

Rin scoffs but doesn’t do much else, too focused on what Yukio said to do anything but that. Explore the subconscious? What kind of bull shit is that? He acted out after being told his mom died giving birth to him. He fought because it was easier to deal with physical pain than emotional stuff. What’s so hard about that? 

He grabs the pencil and starts writing, letting the sentence form on the page before as his mind comes up with another. And another. And another still. About the guilt he felt when he found out his mother’s death and Yukio’s near death was his fault. About being called the demon child after throwing a chair at a kid who called his brother names. About the way he decided that he would start acting like they called him out of spite. About how he used the fear in everyone’s eyes as fuel for his own anger. About how the fights were supposed to be a means to an ends and he was never supposed to get addicted to the feelings that came with the brawls. 

He writes until he’s filled up the front and back of the page and has to get another one. He tells about the boy who got him hooked on cigarettes at fourteen and how he didn’t like them at first, but they helped take the edge off his temper most days. About the switch to marijuana at fifteen because the same boy dared him to try it with him. About the day he and that boy kissed and the heartbreak the followed after Rin found out he was just trying to experiment and Rin was there. About how his hand broke on the boy’s nose when he punched it in his rage. 

He goes on to the one fight that went too far at sixteen and how the punks went after the church to get to him. About the fire that was lit in one of the pews with the bible Father Fujimoto used to read to him at night. About how he nearly beat the fire starter to death in his fit of rage. About how the night he was arrested and sent to juvie for two years. The disappointment in Father Fujimoto’s eyes when he and Yukio picked him up on his release date and could barely look him in the eyes for a month after. About how he was sent back to school but he ditched in order to hook up with his old crew again. About the support the church and his brother tried to give him but he rejected in favor of betting on street fights behind the movie theater. About how Father Fujimoto went to find him one night- 

The pencil snaps in his hold and an ugly black line scrawls on the page at the jerkiness of the action. He’s vaguely aware of the tears that drop on the page in front of him, but his main focus is on the tightness in his chest. Is he still breathing? A swift and heavy exhale tells him that no he was not and he tries to force his breathing to steady out before Yukio gets back. It’s not an easy task but he tries anyway, almost violently pressing the heels of his hands to his eyes to stop the tears from flowing. 

 

“Rin!” Yukio calls, causing Rin to jump and snatch his hands from his eyes before Yukio makes it down the stairs. “I’m out of the shower if you want it!” 

“Al-alright,” Rin says, swearing inwardly at the tremble that snuck into his voice. He clears his throat roughly before continuing. “I’ll be up in a second.” 

There’s a slight pause before anyone says anything, but then Yukio speaks. “Ok,” he says, hesitancy clear in his usually steady tone. “I left you some hot water by the way.” 

“Thanks,” Rin responds, swiping angrily at his eyes again as a few more tears slip out. “Gimme a minute.” Another, shorter pause this time before Yukio pads to his room and his door shuts, allowing Rin to relax fully knowing his younger brother won’t see him cry. He huffs unsteadily and slumps forward, resting his forehead in his hands and rubbing furiously, willing the wetness and puffiness away by sheer anger alone. Once he’s steady enough, he lifts his head and reaches for his spiral notebook, tearing the written on pages out before rising and walking to his backpack. He shoves his barely legible, emotional mess of writing into the biggest pocket and yanks the zippers closed, glancing at the time on his phone and smiling slightly. He has enough time before school to take a nice, long, hot shower to wash away the emotional turmoil of whatever that was.

He huffs again and turns to the stairs to do just that. 

##### 

Just like yesterday, Ayame leans against the wall of the building before class starts, a cigarette hanging loosely between his fingers as a trail of smoke rolls from the part in his lips. His clothes are more dialed back from the edginess Rin detected yesterday, clad in a simple black jean and black long sleeved shirt with his stud toe combat boots from yesterday. Tonight, a pair of black over the ear headphones stand out against the brilliant silver of his hair, his head bobbing to the beat of whatever song plays in his ears. Rin assumes it’s not like the J-pop he had on yesterday due to the angry creases on his forehead from his eyes being pressed together so tightly. Something else must have happened between when they ran into each other at the store and now. A small part of him wants to ask, but the other says he probably shouldn’t care. That part is ignored when Ayame lifts the cigarette and Rin spots the bloody bandages wrapped around his hand. 

“Ok,” Rin starts, striding up and causing Ayame to crack an eye open at his approach and slide his headphones down to hang around his neck. “I know you said you didn’t wanna talk about you got the bruise on your face-” 

“That’s true,” Ayame says, his eyes narrowing suspiciously as a cautious edge takes hold of his voice. “And I still don’t.” 

“That blood is fresh!” Rin shouts, noting how Ayame tenses and tightens his hold on his cigarette as a response. “We just saw each other! What the fuck happened?” 

“I fell down the stairs,” Ayame spits, not even bothering to finish his cigarette before flicking it away and pushing off the wall. “Drop it.”

“I can’t,” Rin rejects, following Ayame as he stalks toward the building. “Ayame!” 

“Shut up!” Ayame whirls on Rin when they reach the front door, nearly causing Rin to run into him with the suddenness of the action. “I don’t need some punk I met last night worrying about what I do with my life!” 

“My, my, what do we have here?” 

Both Rin and Ayame tense and turn to the source of the voice, spotting Mephisto twirling an accessory umbrella in his hand as he approaches. “You two were just so friendly with each other. What happened?” He stops beside them and releases a low whistle after looking over Ayame. “That’s a good shiner,” he teases, “is that what you’re fighting about?” 

Ayame’s temper flares, but his face remains stoic. Rin feels like he’s the only one who can tell he wants to strike. He’s seen the look on many people back in his fighting days. The look of the calm before the storm. But that was before now. 

A flicker of pride wells in his chest about the fact that he can say that he’s stopped fighting so far. In fact, the pride goes far as to pull a smug smirk on his face before he can stop it. Mephisto’s eyes flick to him and the smirk disappears. 

“We’re not fighting,” Ayame grumbles, pulling the attention back to himself before Rin has to explain his smirk. “We’re going to class.” Without waiting for a response, Ayame sends one final glare to Rin before turning on a heel and finishing his journey toward the front door. 

“Tsk, tsk,” Mephisto tutts, moving forward to level with Rin before slamming the tip of his umbrella on the ground. “I thought you two would’ve been the best of friends.” 

Rin grits his teeth. “Shut up,” he grumbles, stomping toward the doors as Ayame had just done, except he doubts he looks as good as Ayame did when he did it. Why did he think that? 

Mephisto laughs lightly and follows Rin inside, continuing to twirl his umbrella as they walk through the school and down the hall to the classroom. So far only five of the ten people are in the classroom, all of which are in the same spots they were the night before. Ayame’s eyes are fixed on the window again, his headphones back over his ears and his foot tapping rapidly to whatever he’s listening to. Rin thinks about going over and trying to reconcile for pushing him so hard for an explanation. But he knows deep down he’s probably going to try and pry some more, so he walks to the back and takes his seat instead. 

The rest of the students trudge in just before the bell chimes the time, though Mephesto tuts in disppointment anyway. “Late on the first day,” he says as he shakes his head. “I shouldn’t be surprised.” 

Rin barely hears Mephisto’s complaining in favor of watching Ayame pause his music and take his headphones off his ears. He knows he’s probably staring, but the fact that he upset the one person who might be his friend later is kind of bugging him. He’s not experienced in the realm of having friends by any means, but he knows that when one friend is angry at the other, they’re supposed to give a bit of space and then talk it out. At least, he assumes that’s how it’s supposed to be. All the TV shows about friendship usually leads to that. But should he really be taking advice from a TV show? 

“Ah! I was just about to mark you absent,” Mephisto calls, causing all but Rin and Ayame to turn to the door. “I’m glad you decided to join us tonight.” 

“You know I don’t have a choice big brother,” the new voice says from the door, causing Rin to stiffen and Ayame’s eyes to widen. “If I had a choice, you know I would be anywhere else but here.” 

Rin swivels in his chair and his teeth grit tightly, instantly recognizing the green haired goth man in the door, his anger flaring and his hands clenched into tight fists on his desk. However, he doesn’t get a chance to react before a chair screeches loudly behind him and all eyes snap there. Ayame stands stiff at his desk, eyes wide as dinner plates and mouth gaped slightly in shock. “Amaimon?” 

Amaimon’s gaze moves to Ayame and his eyes widen as well, though his shock is more contained than Ayame’s. “Hasigawa?”

No one says anything for a few moments and the tension in the room is almost palpable. There’s no hostility between them, just shock. All anyone else can do is look between them and wait.

Mephisto clears his throat and breaks the spell that was cast over the room. All eyes move to him, well all but Ayame and Amaimon anyway, and Mephisto claps his hands together. “Amaimon,” he says, somehow breaking the tension between him and Ayame and his gaze flicks over. “I’m going to need you to take a seat.” 

Amaimon grunts and returns his eyes to Ayame, making his way over to the desk beside Ayame, the latter lowering himself back to his own seat. Amaimon pulls his desk so close to Ayame’s that they could practically be one and he immediately reaches out and takes hold of Ayame’s hand. Both return their gazes to Mephisto and neither one acknowledge the hand holding is happening. 

Mephisto raises an eyebrow at the apparent strange behavior from his brother, but he shrugs it off and yanks his jacket off and tosses it on his desk again. “Alright!” he starts excitedly. “Let’s get started! I’m going to assume that everyone did their homework, correct?” A chorus of confirming grunts ring across the room and Mephisto claps again. “Great! Now, we get to the turning in.” Everyone grunts again and moves to grab their homework, beginning to pass it forward only for Mephisto to stop them with a hand up. “Ah, ah, ah,” he tutts. “That’s not how this is going to work. This is a trip of self-discovery and opening up, remember? So this is what we’re going to do. No one is going to read their story out loud, but everyone is going to get up and sum up the story with one sentence that starts with ‘I did it because. . .’ and then give your reason.” 

Everyone shifts nervously in their seats and Rin notices how Ayame’s hand tightens around Amaimon’s. “I know you are all nervous,” Mephisto continues, his voice more serious than Rin would have expected from him, “but I can assure you that this is a safe place and nothing you say will leave this building.” 

 

Hesitant looks are passed around the room, nervously prodding for anyone other than themselves to go first. Surprisingly, Katsuro is the first one to rise from his seat, locking his eyes on the ground before walking to the front of the classroom. “I did it because I thought I needed to.” Still without looking up, Katsuro hands the paper to Mephisto and walks back to his seat. 

“Good!” Mephisto cheers. “Thank you for being first! Who’s next?” 

It takes another few moments for anyone to move, but then another student stands and heads to the front. “I did it because someone told me not to.”

And another. “I did it because we wanted to have fun.” 

“I did it because I needed to.” 

“I did it because I thought I would get away with it.” 

Ayame releases Amaimon’s hand and pushes herself out of his chair, trailing to the front and staring straight at the in the back of the room. “I did it because I wanted to feel safe.”

Rin glances over at Amaimon as Ayame hands over the paper, noting how his eyes hardened at the mention. None of the hatred seems to be directed at Ayame, though, but at nothing at all. Judging by the reactions they had upon seeing each other and how close they are, Rin assumes he knows what Ayame’s talking about. 

Rin stands as Ayame moves to sit, making sure to lock eyes with him as they pass each other. Ayame makes sure to drop the gaze as soon as it’s made and Rin continues his way to the front. “I did it because I wanted to.” 

None of rest of the confessions seem important as Rin’s mind swirls to find the connection between Ayame’s confession and his connection with Amaimon. Why is he so involved anyway? They aren’t even considered friends yet. So why does he feel so defensive about him being with Amaimon. No wait, cause he hates that guy, that’s why. The fact that they’re holding hands for dear life under their desks is only makes the situation worse. 

“Wonderful!” Mephisto cheers encouragingly, setting the papers on his desk and smiling brightly. “I hope that this helped break the ice and encourages further opening up. Anyway, onto the actual class! As always, we’re going to start with therapy exercises before we go to actual classes. So please take out your journals! Amaimon, I know you have one because I gave you one last night so you can’t say you didn’t get one.” 

Reluctantly, Ayame and Amaimon release hands and pull out their notebooks and pencils. Once the materials are out, however, Amaimon snags Ayame’s pinkie with his own. Ayame doesn’t protest and in fact, he seems to tighten the hold. Rin’s grip tightens on his pencil. The questions he has about the situation burn in his mind, but he forces them away in favor of focusing on Mephisto’s instructions. 

 

“As humans, we all have things we don’t want to admit to ourselves,” Mephisto starts. “We also have desires, things we need, and things we think we need. I want everyone to look deep within themselves and find at least one of these things. You don’t have to share if you don’t want to, but you do need to do it. I’ll give you fifteen minutes to complete it.” 

Things we don’t want to admit? Desires? Rin huffs through his nose at the question and decides to take it like a list and go one at a time. Ok, so obviously he doesn’t know what he doesn’t want to admit to himself, so he skips that one. Desires? Hm. Maybe to punch Amaimon in the nose. Or to get the story from Ayame about how he knows Amaimon. Probably both. Also to know how Ayame got his new injuries. Some new clothes probably wouldn’t hurt. 

Next, things he thinks he needs. Answers. To punch Amaimon in the nose. Maybe that should be an actual need. No. People don’t normally need to punch people, do they? Maybe he should put temper control under things he actually needs. Actually, that definitely goes under needs. He scribbles it immediately. What else were the questions? Was that it? Yeah that’s it. Wait, there’s still the question about what he doesn’t want to admit to himself. His stomach tightens violently as his answer hits him like a freight train. He can’t even bring himself to write it down. His stomach churns again and he sets the pencil down, his hand trembling as he tries to bury the memory once again. 

“Alright, time’s up!” Mephisto calls his voice holding a very hidden undertone of hesitancy swirling in the excitement. “I know we’re calling it a bit early, but it seems we’re having difficulties with the questions.” 

 

Rin glances around the room and notices the discomfort on almost every face, save Amaimon who scratches the desk with his long, sharpened, black painted nail. His face is a mask of indifference, but Rin always remembered him not displaying many emotions in the past anyway. The scratching nail on the desk is probably the closest thing to nervousness Rin has ever seen. 

Ayame reaches over and grabs Amaimon’s hand to stop him from scratching the desk. His face is not as schooled as Amaimon’s, but he looks like one of the calmest ones in the room. His face is tight, though, so Rin knows he’s trying to keep himself calm. Amaimon shifts his hand to hold Ayame’s on top of the desk. 

“Now then,” Mephisto says, “onto a lighter subject! We’re going to paint!” The class’s mood does seem to improve and everyone practically slams their notebooks closed to hide whatever they had written. “Finger painting to be exact!” Mephisto continues, grinning broadly as he watches the mood lift. “To me it feels like it’s more personal than brush painting, plus it’s more fun! Amaimon, your nails are probably going to get in the way for this, so you’re going to have to work around it.” 

“I’ll figure it out,” Amaimon responds with a shrug. 

“Good!” Mephisto says with an enthusiastic clap of the hands. “Let’s go to the art room and get started!” 

#####

 

The school night ends after a few hours of painting and another few of learning, Rin continuously sending glances over at Ayame and Amaimon as time goes on. Both of them still maintain an intimately close proximity to one another, and they even added on bits to the other’s painting. Once the painting session was over, the class washed up and headed back to the classroom. The mood was brighter during and after the art session which led to some light chatter amongst the students. Mephisto was pleased. 

However, the mood was immediately killed once they got back and had to do actually school work. 

After a few hours of schooling, the students trickle out and back out into the world, this time continuing the conversations from earlier in the nights. Rin sighs heavily once he gets out, mentally plotting another way home since Ayame is clearly occupied. 

“Yo.” 

Or not. Rin glances over his shoulder and he spots Ayame and Amaimon making their way out the door, still holding hands. RIn pointedly ignores Amaimon. “What’s up?” 

Ayame reaches in his pants pocket and fishes out his car keys, pack of cigarettes, and lighter out all with one hand. “Am I still giving you a ride?” he asks, moving his hand to hang in front of Amaimon. Amaimon reaches in the pack and pulls a cigarette from the offered pack and sticking the end in the corner of his mouth. 

Something heats up in Rin’s core at the action and he grinds his teeth together again. “Aren’t you going with him?” he says, voice nearly a snarl as he speaks. 

Amaimon’s eyebrow rises curiously and he tilts his head, his eyes flicking to Ayame as he shakes the pack again and pulls a cigarette out with his lips. “Why would he?” Amaimon asks around the end. “We have our own cars and places to be. Plus I’m on house arrest, so I can’t do much.” 

The pack is replaced in Ayame’s pocket and the lighter is lit, first to light Ayame’s before he passes it on to Amaimon. “That doesn’t answer my question,” Ayame says as he accepts his lighter back after Amaimon lights his own cigarette. “Am I still giving you a ride?” 

Despite how much Rin doesn’t want to be stuck with someone who has a connection to someone he hates, and how much he just doesn’t want to be around Ayame in general at the moment, he doesn’t really have enough money for a different option. So he swallows his pride and his temper before shoving his hands in his pocket. “Yes,” he admits begrudgingly. “I still need a ride.” 

Ayame exhales a lungful of smoke and nods agreeingly, turning to Amaimon as he exhales his own smoke. “You have my number right?” he asks, only adding to the flare in Rin’s chest. 

“You just gave it to me,” Amaimon responds, eyebrow raised as he pulls a scrap of paper from his pocket. “Or did you forget?” 

“I was making sure you had it,” Ayame responds, giving his hand one more squeeze before finally breaking the hold. “Get going. You don’t want your parole officer coming by cause you don’t get home on time, do you?” 

Amaimon shrugs and lifts his cigarette to his lips again. “I’ve had worse happen,” he reminds, “but I suppose you’re right. I’ll call you later.” 

 

“I gave you my number for a reason,” Ayame responds, mimicking his action and lifting his cigarette to his lips. “Later.” 

“Later.” 

With that, Ayame turns to Rin as Amaimon starts toward the parking lot directly in front of the school. “Let’s go,” Ayame says, turning and starting toward the adjacent parking lot. 

Rin follows quietly and follows him to his car, watching the car lights flash as the doors are unlocked and doing the same routine as before. Backpacks tossed in the backseat and then getting into the front, this time with Ayame holding a cigarette between his lips as they buckle their seatbelts and Ayame starts the car. 

The questions in Rin’s mind bubble over with his temper and he opens his mouth to say them. “What-”

“Amaimon is a friend from back in the day,” Ayame interrupts, cracking the window as soon as the car starts up and flicking ash out the window. “We’ve been together for a while and up until the start of class, I thought he was dead.”

The last part catches Rin off guard and his focus is so caught up in figuring out how to respond that he get startled by the car actually starting to move. “How the-”

“It’s a long story that I don’t wanna tell to a practical stranger,” Ayame cuts in again. “Are you hungry?”

Rin isn’t willing to pry into something that would potentially start a fight, especially when all of his anger was stomped out by surprise. So his stomach seems to take a hint and growl loudly. “I think so,” he says, though he does slump in the seat in defeat when Ayame snorts a bit at the sound. “What are we getting?” 

“Breakfast food, duh,” Ayame says as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “Breakfast is good for all hours of the day. Plus there’s this amazing twenty-four hour breakfast place around here that I’ve been dying to get back to.” 

The first hints of genuine emotion float under the normally uncaring surface of Ayame’s eyes, so he’ll be damned if he’s going to be the one to extinguish it. “Sounds good to me,” he agrees happily as he slips his phone out and sends Yukio a quick update message. “Let’s go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know Amaimon seems OOC, but I just needed it there to establish the relationship. He'll go back as soon when he comes back. Thanks!


	3. Breakfast time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rin and Ayame talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't actually think we'd get this far guys! But yay!

Yukio replied the affirmative not long after Rin sent the text, somehow managing to come right as Ayame pulls into a parking space of the diner he was talking about. It took Rin all he had not to send a snappy text about being late, but he knows that Yukio works hard and is probably stressed about being at a hospital. He doesn’t need the added annoyance of a snarky brother cracking jokes. He sends a thank you and scrambles out of the car as Ayame pushes the diner door open and enters the restaurant. The car is locked as soon as Rin closes his door. 

The inside of the diner is probably the reason why he’s never heard of it, shabbily decorated in a way that makes Rin think it’s from the eighties. He also notes how everything is space themed, little UFO hanging lamps above each table and old space movie posters on every wall. Hearty breakfast smells wag an inviting finger under his nose as he makes his way further in the restaurant and slides into the dark blue vinyl seat across the table from Ayame. Rin is almost positive that if the food didn’t smell so good and if Ayame wasn’t practically buzzing with excitement, he would never have stepped foot through the door. However, he will admit that the space stuff is cool to see. He just wishes he didn’t have to look up and see a little green man sitting on a shelf in a corner staring at him every time he lifts his head. 

“I haven’t been here in ages,” Ayame says happily, a bright grin spreading on his face as he scans the various alien posters on the wall. “They repainted.” 

Rin nods at the deep blue paint and swirling galaxies splayed across the walls. “It’s nice,” he says, noting the brightness in Ayame’s eyes as he grabs the leather-bound menu from in front of him. “I didn’t know there was this many alien posters in the world.” 

“They sell them on the internet for cheap,” Ayame notes as he flips to the first page of the menu. “I’ve looked them up, but I never had a chance to get any. Bills and all that adult shit, you know?” 

In all honesty RIn can’t say he does. However, he has seen Yukio stress about making bills on time and paying off student debt before he got his actual job as a doctor. It’s not as big a stressor now as it was before, but it’s definitely still there. Manageable, but there. Plus Rin never really had to hold off on getting what he wants or wanted before unless it was a completely unreasonable demand. 

“Not really,” Rin admits, watching a flicker of some emotion fly by Ayame’s eyes. “But I’ve seen people who have.” 

“Lucky you.” An almost bitter edge takes on Ayame’s tone, but it dies instantly as he finds a section of menu. “I’m getting a milkshake,” he announces proudly. “I think I’ve earned it.” 

Rin smiles at the brightness in Ayame’s, scooping up his own menu and flipping to the page Ayame has his open to. “I think I will too,” he agrees. “Second day of school treat.” 

“Amen to that.” Ayame glances at Rin over the top of his menu and smiles, causing Rin to catch his eyes and smile back. 

The smile falls a few seconds later as Rin reads a few of the flavors in front of him. “Nutella fried bacon?” he grumbles in disgusted confusion as Ayame snorts. “Pancake and Oreo?”

“That one is pretty good,” Ayame interjects. “It’s got cookies crumbled in the whipped cream and they drizzle it with syrup.”

Rin cringes at the description. “That sounds like diabetes.” 

“It probably is. I typically go for something basic like chocolate or strawberry.”

An amused snort pushes from Rin’s core and he flips to the food pages after making a milkshake selection. “I’m going to try the Nutella bacon one,” he says. “How’s that one?” 

Ayame shrugs. “I wouldn’t know,” he admits. “I don’t eat meat. I’ve heard good things, though. The saltiness of the bacon helps balance the sweetness of everything else or something like that. My other friends said it was good.” 

Rin’s menu is slammed on the table and his eyes widen in shock at the statement. Ayame’s smile drops instantly and he flinches harshly at Rin’s action, but Rin doesn’t seem to notice. “You have friends!?” he asks loudly. “I mean, besides that asshole Amaimon?” 

“Wh-why is that so surprising?” Ayame says, forcing himself to relax and pulling a strained smile onto his face. “I do talk to people besides you.” 

The slight stammer and clear unease in Ayame’s tone causes Rin to pause and knock his energy down a notch. “I’m just saying,” Rin starts, slouching back in his seat once he realizes he started leaning toward Ayame over the table, “you don’t seem like the type to want friends.” 

A flinch and Ayame’s fake smile fades more. “Harsh,” he starts quietly, pulling his menu up to hide his face. “Being alone is just safer. . .”

Well, there’s an opening if he ever heard one. “Uh. . .” Rin starts, causing Ayame to peer hesitantly over his menu. “Speaking of safe. . .Those injuries. . . Your hand. . .” Even though Rin can only see the top half of Ayame’s face, he can tell Ayame is frowning in annoyance. His eyes flash with the same anger from the first time Rin asked the question, but Rin still wants answers and he’s determined to get them this time. “I just wanna know if you’re in trouble or something,” Rin continues quickly. “The fucked up ones gotta stick together and all that, right? Friendship and shit?” He hopes he’s doing this right. “Yeah?” 

Ayame snorts at the awkwardness of Rin’s declaration and sets the menu back on the table. “Is that what this is?” he asks lazily, and Rin can tell that his relaxation is starting to become real again. “Even though I’m friends with the guy you apparently hate?” 

The reminder sends a fresh wave of anger through his core, but he bites it back in favor of pursuing his goal. “Yes,” he forces. “If I didn’t want to be your friend, do you think I would be here?” 

The question causes Ayame’s smile to fade again. “You got me there,” he admits, then huffs tiredly. “If I tell you to fuck off, would you listen and let it go?”

“Definitely not.” 

“And if I tell you I fell down the stairs?” 

“I didn’t believe you the first time you said that.” 

Another tired huff pushes from Ayame’s core and he closes his menu. “Can we order our drinks first?” he asks as the waiter approaches their table. “Then I suppose I’ll tell you something. . .” 

Pride and a certain sense of accomplishment wells in Rin’s core and he can’t help the smile that spreads across his face. “Sure!” he agrees. The drinks are ordered quickly and the duo relay that they need a bit more time to decide on food. With a quick nod from the waiter, he disappears and Rin practivally throws himself over the table again. “Alright, what happened?” Ayame tenses harshly again and Rin swears inwardly, relaxing again and lowering himself back into his seat. “Sorry.” 

“Don’t worry about it,” Ayame mumbles, though he does pick up the menu again and holds it in front of his face like before. “It happens.” He exhales heavily and peeks over the top, allowing Rin full view of his black eye once again. “I. . . ran into my ex,” he explains slowly.

A blink of confusion. Two. Shock and anger washes through his core and he slams his hands down on the table, causing Ayame to flinch and lower his face behind the menu once again. “What the fuck!” he practically shouts, and Ayame’s sinks deeper into himself. “What do you mean you ran into your ex? You got hit! He hit you?” 

“Shut up!” Ayame does shout, slamming his own menu on the table, but he doesn’t lean forward like Rin does. He does, however, cringe at his own words and shrink himself further into his chair. “Shut up,” he repeats quieter than before. “It happens-” 

“What!?” Ayame cringes again and his own temper dies out into fear. Rin regrets his volume and lowers himself to a sit, having not even realize he was not standing and towering over the slumped Ayame. He inhales and exhales slowly to try again. “What do you mean it happens? Stuff like that-” 

“We have. . .” Ayame interrupts weakly, clearing his throat loudly to regain some of his lost volume. “Had,” he corrects, “differing views on how relationships worked. I wanted a partnership. He wanted a dictatorship. He would. . .” He clears his throat again and fiddles with his sleeve. “He would make his intentions very clear on bad days. . .”

A moment of hesitation. Rin prods. “And on good days?” 

Ayame chews on the inside of his cheek. “He was loud,” he forces slowly. “And he’d. . .throw things near me.” Rin clenches a fist on the table and Ayame continues quickly. “It wasn’t everyday, though,” he explains. “He loved me-” 

“Helluva way to show it,” Rin growls. 

“He was good most days,” Ayame defends. “It would be a partnership like I wanted. We agreed on a lot. It’s just some days I was-” 

“It wasn’t your fault,” Rin cuts in again, forcefully, but not loudly like he originally wanted. “He sounds like an asshole.” Ayame’s mouth opens to respond, most likely to defend his ex if Rin were to wage a guess, so Rin continues without waiting. “So what happened today?” he asks in what he hopes to be a calm and controlled tone. “Your injuries I mean.” 

Ayame’s mouth closes for a moment before he responds. “He came to my house last night,” he starts, making sure to choose his words carefully and keep his voice steady. “Said he wanted to talk and apologize for everything. I believed him because, ya know. . .it’s him.” 

“I can’t relate,” Rin says sternly. 

“I dated him for three years,” Ayame says nervously. “It’s hard to get over someone like that, especially when he made it so that I had to love him. Anyway, we talked through the door at first and then I answered. He tried to ask me to go out with him again and I said no. He didn’t like that. Which makes sense since he did so much for me in the-”

“He didn’t do anything,” Rin says through tightly gritted teeth. “Stop talking like that.” He notices the way Ayame wrings his hands together tightly and Rin takes a second to regain himself as the waiter brings their shakes. Rin asks for another few minutes. Once the waiter leaves, Rin takes a sip of the shake to steady his shaking hands. “So he hit you?”

Ayame lifts his eyes for a moment as he twirls his straw in his own drink. “Yeah. . .” he answers quietly. “A few times. . . Then I fought back and he left.” 

 

Rin nods and chews on his straw, nodding once at the bandaged hand Ayame uses to hold his glass. “The hand is new.” 

“I punched a mirror,” he explains. “I thought I saw. . .And I freaked out. . .”

“I understand that. . .” Rin mutters around his straw. And he does. Back when Father Fujimoto died, Rin thought he saw him everywhere. Around corners, in his study, any church windows, mirrors, most of which led to a few incidents like the ones Ayame went through just now. Except he always had Yukio to fix him up when he was hurt. Ayame’s hand looks like it was wrapped by a kindergartener. “It looks bad.” 

Ayame shrugs and takes a long drink of his milkshake. “It looks worse than it is. I’m just shit at the whole doctor stuff.” 

Despite the resounding heaviness hanging in the air between them, Rin smiles and laughs lightly around his drink. He hasn’t taken the straw from his mouth since he started drinking it. Ayame’s friends were right, it’s amazing. “I can see that,” he snorts. “It looks like a blindfolded monkey wrapped it.” 

For the first time since the topic changed, Ayame’s face breaks into a wide grin and he snorts happily around his drink. “It’s not that bad is it?” he asks through a few content chuckles. “You couldn’t do better, could you?” 

Rin is grateful for the lighter change of topic and he nods a few times. “Probably!” he admits lightly. “My brother’s a doctor and I get. . .got into a lot of fights. I learned a few things watching him fix me up and I had to wrap myself up a couple times when no one was home. So yeah, that wrapping is shit and I really could do better.” 

Another happy snort from Ayame and he takes another sip from his drink. “I’ll keep that in mind next time I get in a fight with a mirror.” 

“Or a fight in general,” Rin corrects in amusement. “You seem violent.” 

Ayame seems to ponder the statement for a moment before shrugging and slumping back in his seat. “I can be,” he accepts, “if I need to I mean. I don’t just go around punching people.” 

The two lapse into a round of quiet laughter before Rin hums thoughtfully. “There’s one more thing I wanna ask about. . .” he says hesitantly. 

“You’re nosy, you know that right?” Ayame says, plucking his cherry from the top of his shake and sticking it in his mouth. “It’s Amaimon, isn’t it?” Rin flinches as if caught and glues his eyes to his milkshake. “Look,” Ayame says, pulling the stem from the cherry and dropping it on the table, “it’s like I said, we’re good friends who I thought was dead up until class started.” 

“I mean how is he your friend?” Rin prods eagerly. “When I knew him, that shit bag was-”

“Violent and went around punching people for nothing?” Ayame finishes. “Yeah. He was an ass. But he was all I had for a long time. Other than my ex I mean, but he was the reason why Amaimon and I got so close.” 

Rin waits as Ayame pauses when the waiter comes back and Ayame takes the initiative and orders two blueberry pancakes breakfast plates. After the waiter leaves again, Rin turns his attention back to Ayame. “What do you mean by that?” he asks to continue to conversation from before. “How did-” 

“Look, I really don’t wanna talk about this,” Ayame says, his eyes suddenly cold and haunted as he glares at Rin. “I know opening up is something friends do with each other and shit, but talking about this when you are, again, a practical stranger, isn’t something I’m ready to do.” 

Again, Rin understands. There isn’t a lot he wants to talk about either, and him making Ayame talk about what is most likely a traumatic series of events definitely isn’t going to help. “Alright,” he relents, “I’m sorry.” Ayame only hums in tired annoyance as he chews on the cherry in his mouth. Damn, they were just making so much progress and now Ayame is shutting down again. Maybe he shouldn’t have pried so much. Ok, that’s definitely something he shouldn’t have done. Maybe. . . 

“I used to fight a lot when I was younger,” he starts, his starting causing Ayame to lift his eyes from his drink to Rin himself hesitantly. “I was angry after I found out something bad and I took it out on the world. I fought Amaimon more times than I can count. It seemed like he wanted me to fight him, honestly, just to beat the shit outta me.” Ayame raises an eyebrow at the statement. “I haven’t beaten him once,” Rin explains, “which is surprising since I won most of the fights I got into. He was the only one I couldn’t beat one-on-one and he knew that.” 

 

“If it makes you feel better, I haven’t beaten him yet either,” Ayame grumbles lazily. “He’s a tough shitbag that’s for sure.” 

That statement catches Rin off guard and he’s the one who raises an eyebrow this time. “You guys fought? You seemed so close tonight.” 

Ayame smiles and shrugs. “Shit happens,” he says. “We weren’t friends when we first met and we both had our issues with each other and the world. We ended up taking it out on each other. Somehow he found out about my situation with my ex and - and I’m very foggy about how this happened - he wasn’t happy about it. He fought my ex about it a couple times and - I’m still very foggy about it - we became friends.”

“That’s a weird way to make friends,” Rin mumbles, his mouth still firmly planted around his straw. “Fighting for me normally doesn’t mean making friends after. It normally meant we wanted to kill each other.” 

Ayame shrugs and takes a long drink from his shake. “I don’t think we meant to be friends after that,” he admits, “I think he started out in the mindset that he was the only one who was allowed to fight me. I don’t actually know what was going on in his mind. You could ask him yourself. . .” 

Rin feels his temper flare up and his hands tighten around his cup, the action not going unnoticed by Ayame, who tenses slightly and presses himself against the back of his chair. That action doesn’t go unnoticed by Rin, who jots down a mental note to try and control his temper around Ayame. 

“I was joking,” Ayame whispers, instantly killing Rin’s flaring temper. “I’m sorry.” 

Guilt takes the place of Rin’s anger and he releases his cup to clasp both hands on the table in front of him. “No, I’m sorry,” he says, trying not to lean forward to show his sincerity as he normally would. “I know you were joking and I took it seriously. I shouldn’t have done that. I’m sorry.” 

Ayame looks up at Rin for a moment before a surprising and small smile spreads on his face. “You’re s decent kid, you know that,” he says lazily, lifting a finger and twirling his straw in his shake. “You have a helluva temper, but you seem to have a pretty decent handle on it. I appreciate that.” 

A hint of pride wells in Rin’s core at the compliment and he beams brightly, causing Ayame to laugh quietly at his expression. “You really think so?” he asks excitedly, mentally noting how he’s sure that if he had a tail it would be wagging behind him. He then wonders why he had that thought in the first place. “I’ve been trying to keep it under control lately!”

“Maybe you could work on your energy levels in general,” Ayame comments through a teasing smile, reaching over and grabbing his shake once again. “It’s way too high for this late at night.” 

Rin shrugs at the comment and smiles brightly as he does. “I’m a creature of the night,” he says as Ayame’s phone buzzes audibly in his pocket. He then watches as Ayame lifts his rear up slightly and slides the phone from his pocket and a weird expression forms on his face. “You’d think that a punk god thing like you would relate.”

A loud, amused snort pushes past Ayame’s lips as he flicks his gaze flicks from his phone screen to Rin. “Punk god thing?” he repeats happily as he taps a few buttons on the screen without looking. “That’s a first. I think I’m going to get that tattooed on my ass.” 

Rin laughs loudly and Ayame does the same, continuing the happiness for a full two minutes before the waiter comes back with their food. Ayame recovers first and accepts the plates the waiter hands to him, snickering quietly as he sets a plate in front of Rin. “Stop laughing, idiot,” he laughs as he lightly prods Rin with the toe of his boot under the table. 

“Ow!” Rin half cries, his tone making Ayame wonder about the sincerity of the outcry. “Watch the toe spikes, punk god!” 

Ayame snorts again and grabs a fork from the silverware holder level with the wall. “Is that what you’re going to call me from now on?” he asks, using the end of the fork to slice an almost bite sized chunk of pancake and sticks it in his mouth. “I like that.”

“That almost sounds narcissistic,” Rin comments as he too reaches over and grabs a fork. “But I am going to set that as your contact name in my phone.” 

A curious eyebrow rises on Ayame’s face as he watches Rin cut off a bigger slice of pancake than he did and shove it in his mouth. “Is that your way of asking for my number?” he asks, watching Rin’s face heat up as he nearly chokes on his bite. “Cause that sounds like a pretty decent way of doing so.” 

RIn attempts to explain himself, but his words are stopped by the abnormally large pancake bite he took. He hurries through the bite and swallows. “I-I didn’t. . .” he stammers, his babbling only growing more incoherent as Ayame rests an elbow on the table and rests his chin on his hand, an almost devious smile on his face as he watches Rin squirm. “I mean . .. I wouldn’t MIND having it. . .but-but-”

“You’re embarrassing yourself, you know that right?” Ayame practically purrs, sending a quick glance to his phone when it buzzes again. “It’s kinda funny.” He moves his fork and stabs a bite of egg. “Your food’s gonna get cold if you keep it up though.” 

Rin can’t seem to find a proper response to that statement, so he snaps his mouth shut and stabs for another bite of food. Ayame watches him in amusement for a moment before he too returns his attention to his food. After a few minutes of silent eating, Ayame hums and points his fork at Rin. Rin stiffens in shick for a second, a full pancake hanging between his teeth as he looks up at Ayame. “Were you serious about the hand wrapping thing?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, kudosing, and commenting! Also, thanks to SweatyDad for the nickname! As you can see, I'm borrowing it! 
> 
> Keep up the good work guys!


	4. After Breakfast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rin helps fix Ayame's hand

Ayame hisses through his teeth as Rin pours a little less than half a bottle of alcohol over the cuts on his hand. “Is that actually important?” he asks, pressing his eyes closed as Rin sets the alcohol aside and picks up a pair of tweezers. “Why alcohol anyway?” 

“It kills germs,” Rin reminds, using the tweezers to picks out a few lost pieces of glass from Ayame’s knuckles. “Plus it helps clean away the blood and helps me see the shitty job you did when you cleaned it. How did you not notice there was still glass in there?”

“I was in a rush,” Ayame defends, tightening his free hand into a fist as Rin plucks out another piece of glass. “I didn’t wanna be late for school.” 

“I’m sure Mephisto would have understood. Besides, if that shitbag Amaimon was able to walk in late for nothing, your emergency would’ve been fine.” 

Ayame rolls his eyes as Rin drops the glass particles in the trash and setting the tweezers aside. “It was an emergency,” Ayame assures as Rin picks up the bottle again. “It was a minor inconvenience at most.” 

It’s Rin’s turn to roll his eyes as he pours a bit more alcohol over Ayame’s hand, causing the latter to swear through firmly gritted teeth. “Minor inconvenience my ass,” he says sarcastically as he sets the bottle aside yet again. “What do you consider a major inconvenience? Slicing your hand off?” 

An amused snort is pushed from Ayame’s nose as he shakes his hand out to rid some of the pain. “No,” he responds in an equally sarcastic tone. “That would be a medium inconvenience.” 

Rin laughs at the joke as he fishes a roll of bandages from the first aid kit and starts winding it around Ayame’s hand, making sure to secure it with a couple pieces of medical tape like Yukio would. At least, he thinks Yukio would. Either way it looks right and felt right, so he calls it good. “There you go,” he announces, lightly patting his handy work with the palm of his hand before letting it go. “All fixed.” 

“What, no kiss?” Ayame teases, moving his turning his hand over to examine Rin’s work. “Other than that, this is pretty- what are you doing?” 

Rin reaches over and grabs Ayame’s hand, smiling widely as he plants a dramatically loud kiss on the bandages covering the knuckles. Ayame’s face heats up as Rin grins brightly at him. “Better?” he asks, releasing the hand again and rising from his seat on the toilet. He takes Ayame’s stunned silence as a response as he shoves the remain medical supplies in the first aid kit and puts that back under the sink. 

“I hate you,” Ayame grumbles, his face still red as he pushes himself from the edge of the bathtub and following Rin out of the bathroom. “I really do.” 

“Is that why you invited me to your favorite diner and drove me home for the past two days?” Rin responds, leading the way downstairs as Ayame takes the incentive to look around. “That’s a real nice way of showing your hatred.” 

“Your room is a mess,” Ayame hums lazily still standing at the top of the stairs and peering into Rin’s open door. “When was the last time you cleaned anything?” 

A sound of shock pushes from Rin’s core and he runs back up the stairs, gently moving Ayame out the way before rushing over and pulling his door shut. “Don’t be nosy,” Rin exclaims loudly, earning a round of light laughter from Ayame in response. “I don’t go to your house-”

“You don’t know where I live,” Ayame reminds with a raised finger. 

“-into your car,” Rin corrects quickly, “and look through your things.”

“Because you’re nicer than I am. Plus I’m not really do anything if the door is open and I’m just peeking.” 

Rin rolls his eyes and moves past Ayame to head down the stairs, nudging Ayame with his knee as he passes to get him moving. “You thirsty?” he asks as they make their way down the stairs and to the kitchen. “Hungry? Wait, don’t answer that one. Thirsty?”

Ayame releases a short burst of laughter as he leans against the kitchen door frame, sliding his phone from his pants pocket when it buzzes again. “If you have orange juice, I wouldn’t mind a glass,” he says, typing out a response on his screen. “After that I gotta-” 

The lock on the front door clicks and both parties look up and over, Ayame turning his body to see just as Yukio walks in. Yukio looks up just as Ayame does and freezes, looking him up and down before his eyes widen in shock. “Um. . .”

“Yukio!” Rin says, his tone a mixture of joy and shock, leaning over to peer at him from the kitchen. “What are you doing home?” 

Yukio relaxes slightly when he sees his brother, but his eyes never move from Ayame. “They let me off early,” he answers, stepping inside the room and shutting the door. “Said something about me working two night shifts in a row was bad for my health plus it’s a slow night. I’m still on call. Who is this?” 

Rin looks over as if just remembering Ayame is still there and jumps slightly. “Oh right! Yukio, this is Ayame Hasegawa, we had breakfast tonight. Ayame, this is my younger twin brother, Yukio.” 

Ayame lifts his phone in greeting, then uses it to motion to Yukio. “You look like you expect me to kill you,” he notes through a teasing smile. “Is it the nose ring or the spiked boots?” 

Now Yukio relaxes, allowing a welcoming smile to flick on his lips as he sets his work bag on the ground by the door. “Bit of both,” he admits through his own few chuckles. “Plus you’re wearing all black at night which is a bit off putting to be honest.”

Ayame smiles in response and shrugs lazily. “I’m a punk,” he says simply, “it’s what we do. Look intimidating and make sure puppies get good homes.” 

Yukio laughs at the same time Rin taps Ayame’s shoulder with a glass of orange juice. “That sounds corny,” he says, releasing the glass as Ayame wraps his fingers around it. “And it also sounds like something a secret murderer would say.” 

“If I were a secret murderer, why wouldn’t I have killed you when we were alone last night or tonight?” Ayame asks, a curious eyebrow raised as he takes a sip from the glass. “And why would you let me in your house if you thought I was?” 

“Maybe I have a death wish.” 

“Don’t we all.” 

Yukio clears his throat loudly to draw their attention at the same time Ayame’s phone goes off again. “You guys should really lighten up,” he says, a fake smile on his face as he watches Ayame looks at his phone again. “It’s bad for your health to keep such a negative outlook on life.”

“Which is why we’re in therapy,” Ayame reminds as he types out another response. “I gotta jet. Amaimon’s getting antsy and started talking about lighting fires again.” 

Yukio’s eyes widen and his gaze snapped to his brother at the same time Rin’s hand tightens into a fist at his side. “Isn’t Amaimon-” 

“It’s a long story,” Rin grumbles before Yukio can finish. “I’ll tell you about it later.” 

Ayame shrugs and drains the juice from the glass in his hand before extending it toward Rin. “He’s a friend of mine,” he sums. “Not so much Rin, but we’ll work on it.” Rin frowns at the statement but takes the glass, his frown faltering slightly and his face heating up when Ayame winks at him. “I’m out,” Ayame announces as he heads for the door, stopping in front of Yukio and extending his bandaged right hand for a shake. “Nice meeting you, Yukio. We should all do breakfast.” 

Yukio smiles at the offered hand and accepts, though he’s shocked slightly at the bandages when he makes contact. “We should,” he accepts, the confusion out of his voice as he does. After two shakes, the two break their handshake. “We’ll talk through Rin?” 

“Once he properly asks for my number,” Ayame responds through a teasing smile, “then yes. We can talk through Rin.” 

Rin’s face heats up further and a stream of incoherent gibberish flows from his mouth, causing Ayame to smile and Yukio to sigh in exasperation. “On behalf of my brother,” Yukio starts tiredly, drawing Ayame’s amused gaze to his. “May I have your phone number so that we all can keep in contact?” 

Ayame’s amusement deepens and he smiles dramatically wide. “Why yes you may,” he practically sings, accepting Yukio’s phone when he hands it over and inputting his number in it. “Here ya go,” he says in the same sing-song tone as he hands Yukio’s phone back. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” he says as he continues his trip to the door. “Good night.” 

With that, the door is opened and Ayame steps out, sending the twins one more wave before shutting it behind him. Rin moves to his brother and peers over his shoulder, watching as he sends a quick text to Ayame so that his number is there. “She seems nice,” Yukio comments, causing Rin to flinch quietly and step back. Yukio looks up in confusion. “What’s wrong?” 

“Ayame is transgender,” Rin explains, his own gaze looked on the front door as if Ayame is going to come in to fight Yukio for the mistake. “He actually-”

“Identifies as a male,” Yukio finishes with a nod as he returns his attention to his phone. “I know what transgender means. I am a doctor, remember.” 

Rin stands on his toes so that he’s able to see Yukio’s phone again. “I know,” he says as he attempts to read Ayame’s response. “I just thought-” 

“That I would be an asshole and bring up biology and genitalia or something like that?” Yukio finishes again, his tone bored as he taps out another response before locking his screen and sliding his phone in his pocket. “I’ve had transgender patients before, plus one of my coworkers is a trans male and a second one identifies as nonbinary.” He looks up and locks eyes with Rin, a bored expression on his face that makes Rin squirm slightly. “I don’t live under a rock,” he concludes. “I’ll keep that in mind for the next time we talk. For now, do you want Ayame’s number?” 

“Yeah, what is it?” Rin responds, pulling out his phone as Yukio pulls up the number on his phone. Once the number is received, Rin smiles and nods at his brother. “Thanks.” 

Yukio watches Rin enter a contact name and raises an eyebrow just before the screen is locked and the phone disappears back into his brother’s pocket. “Punk God?” Yukio asks, earning a grin and nod from Rin in response. “Should I ask?” 

Rin shrugs. “I called him Punk God in the diner tonight,” he says through his smile. “He liked it and I said I’d set it as his contact name, so I’m keeping my word.” 

“That could almost be cute.” 

Rin’s face heats up again and he shakes his head. “I’m not trying to be cute!” he exclaims, his tone betraying embarrassment rather than anger like Yukio assumes he’s trying to show. “I’m just doing what I said I would.” 

Yukio hums sarcastically in agreement. “So it’s not because you want to make him happy because you like-”

“Shut up!” Rin says in the same tone. “Go to bed four-eyes!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the support on the story guys! Keep it up!


	5. Farm Visit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure if anyone's reading this, but here it is

For the first time in a long time, Rin wakes up before six in the morning. Back in the days of at least trying to get to school and make something of his life, around five or six years old, Rin would always be up at five ish to get the church in order before cooking breakfast for everyone and getting ready for school. Once he gave up, he would sleep until about five minutes before they had to leave for the bus to brush his teeth and put on pants, and head out to who knows where to do who knows what. Nowadays, he just wakes up whenever, does whatever, and goes to school. If he’s up at five am, it’s because he didn’t go to sleep yet. Waking up at five isn’t normal for him. 

So he’s beyond confused when his phone rings at five something in the morning and wakes him from the start of the weirdest dream he’s had in a while. His phone hits the ground when he accidently bats it from under his pillow when he tries to answer it, then the screen blinds him when he finds it, and he drops it under the bed in his surprise. He’s surprised he didn’t miss the call with how long it took him to get to it. 

“Hello?” 

“Rin?” 

“Shiemi?” Rin yawns, pushing himself to sit up and scratch the back of his head. “What’s wrong? Why are you calling me at five in the morning?” 

“Can you or Yukio come pick me up?” Shiemi asks. “I’m at the farm and my car won’t start. I don’t know what’s wrong with it.” 

Another yawn pushes from Rin’s mouth as he tosses the blanket from his legs and slides from the bed. “I can’t drive,” he reminds. “But I can see if Yukio- wait, Yukio got called back into surgery a few hours ago so he can’t. . . Did you try Bon or them?” 

“Bon has problems with his own car right now,” Shiemi explains. “Konekomaru is in college and can’t have a car right now. Shima’s boyfriend answered his phone and said he can’t drive cause they’re both a bit drunk. It’s ok I can get an Uber or something.” 

Through the fog of sleep, Rin’s mind forms a semi-coherent thought. “Wait, no,” he slurs, padding lightly out the door towards the bathroom. “I have one more person. Gimme a minute, I’ll call you back.” 

“Take your time.” 

Rin ends the call and yawns again, squinting against the glare of his phone to find the needed number. He hits dial and it rings three times before it’s answered. 

“Bill’s whore house. You got the dough, we got the ho. What can we do for ya?”

One second. Two. Rin looks at his phone to make sure he dialed the right number before putting it back to his ear. “Ayame?” 

“Rin?” Ayame asks. “Sorry, I normally don’t get calls at five twenty four in the morning. What’s up?” 

“Why do you answer your phone like that?” 

“I don’t have your number yet and thought you were a telemarketer.” 

“You answer telemarketer phone calls like that?” 

“Amongst other ways, yes. Now did you call because you genuinely care how I answer unknown numbers, or do you have an actual reason on why you’re calling me at dark o’fuck in the whatever time?” 

Rin raises an unseen eyebrow and releases a bark of amusement as he paces between his bedroom and the bathroom. “My friend Shiemi’s car won’t start and she’s at her family farm. Can you come get me so we can go get her?” 

“Sure, yeah,” Ayame answers, right before releasing a surprisingly violent stream of swear words into the receiver. “What the -- Amaimon, pick up your fucking fork! I’ll be there in ten.” Then the line goes silent. 

Through the chaos and confusion that is Rin’s sleep deprived mind, Rin assumes that the last bit of information was directed at him. His phone is lowered and another deep yawn sneaks up on him before he can smother it. He takes the time to send a quick text to Yukio letting him know what’s going on before rubbing his eye and actually heading to the bathroom. 

Bladder emptied. Hands washed. Teeth brushed. Face washed. Hair. . . still on his head. Rin can barely bring himself to care about his appearance at the early hour, so he sticks to the hygienic basics and slides on a pair of slippers someone left at the door. He grabs a jacket from the coat closet beside the door just as a pair of headlights light up the window. Rin’s phone buzzes not long after with a text from Ayame saying he’s here and Rin is out the door. 

A puff of white smoke streams from the driver window as Rin’s eyes adjust to the assault that is Ayame’s refusal to turn off his headlights and has to hold his arm up to shield his eyes as he makes his way to the passenger seat. “Morning, sleepy head,” Ayame laughs, using the cigarette in his hand to motion to Rin’s bed hair. “Sleep well?” 

“Not long enough,” Rin mumbles, resting his head on his window as Ayame shifts the car into reverse and starts moving. “What about you?”

“Haven’t slept yet,” Ayame says, switching his cigarette to his other hand to flick a bit of ash out the window. “Been catching up with Amaimon.” 

Rin hums and not even he’s sure of the emotion he put behind it. “Sounds fun,” he says a bit drier than he was anticipating. “Did he set any fires before you got there?” 

Ayame hums around his newest drag of cigarette. “Luckily no,” he responds. “But I barely got there in time. A bored Amaimon is a dangerous one.” He exhales the smoke. “Where’m I going?” 

“Get on the main road and go east,” Rin instructs, peeling his head from the window and resting it against the headrest. “Keep going until you get out of the city n’then take the first left you see. The sign for the farm will be on the right after a bit.” 

“Cool,” the driver says, taking the last pull of the cigarette and flicking the butt out the window. “I see you’re going to sleep, so I’ll wake you when we get there.” 

Rin can only offer a tired hum in reply as his eyes slide shut. “Thanks,” he mumbles, folding his arms over his chest and settling in. “Night.” He doesn’t hear if Ayame even gave a reply because he falls asleep almost immediately, hummed to sleep by the feel of the road and the light hum of the heavy metal quietly playing in the background. 

Just like before, his dreams are weird, a mixture of colors and animals he has no hope of interpreting. Sounds from the world around him intermingle with everything and makes him even more confused, especially when Father Fujimoto starts screaming metal at him for not displaying the right price for sunlight. 

As quickly as it begin, it ends. 

“Hey,” Ayame says, jostling his arm slightly as the road turns dirt. “We’re here.” 

Somehow Rin ended up more tired than when he went to sleep and he has a slight headache growing when he wakes up. The sun is barely in the sky when Ayame pulls up behind Shiemi’s Cooper, painting the sky with shades of pastel blues, pinks, and oranges. Despite having not been at the Moriyama family farm in a few years, Rin vividly remembers how beautiful it is out in the country. In better days, Rin and Yukio would spend weekends up here and help Shiemi and her family with the farmwork in exchange for the first picks from the produce. They’d always wake up a bit early and watch the sun come up. 

He misses those days. 

He doesn’t miss Shiemi turning around quickly to see who pulled up behind her. Ayame kills the engine and Rin realizes he forgot to tell Shiemi about Ayame coming, causing him to swear bitterly and throw his door open, being yanked back by his seatbelt when he forgets to take it off. Ayame laughs loudly and Rin almost basks in the sound had Shiemi not climbed out of her car at that moment. 

“Shiemi!” he calls once he frees himself from the seatbelt and gets out of the car. “Sorry for not calling you back! I got a friend!” 

Shiemi visibly relaxes at the sight of Rin, smiling in relief and laughing lightly as her nerves calm. “Thank you!” she says as Rin yawns loudly. “Do you think it would be ok if we load some stuff in the car? I have a few crates that need to be brought to market today.” 

“Lemme ask.” And then Rin ducks back into the car. “Can she bring a few crates of vegetables in here? They have to go the market today.” 

For the first time since he’s arrived, Ayame yawns deeply and unhooks his own seatbelt. “I gotta check to see if I got room in the trunk,” he answers, pushing his door open and stepping out. He glances over and lifts a hand to Shiemi. “Mornin.” 

Shiemi lifts an awkward hand in response. “Hello.” 

The trunk is popped and Ayame disappears as it rises, grabbing Rin’s interest and causing him to walk around to the trunk. His eyes breeze over the few items before an eyebrow rises and he turns his attention to Ayame. “You carry around four cans of spray paint everywhere you go?” he asks. 

Ayame hums in confirmation and nods a few times. “In case I see an asshole parker or a blank wall that needs life.” 

Rin makes a sound of sarcastic belief. “And the two hammers?” he inquires sarcastically. 

“In case I need to free a dog from an abusive owner. Happens more often than you think. Either that, or I gotta break something.” 

“Like?” 

“Depends on the situation.” 

“And the-” 

‘I have weird stuff in my car,” Ayame interrupts as he sticks more things in the duffle bag and shoves it aside. “It’s all strategic though. Do you think this is enough space?” 

“Uh. . .Hold on.” Rin leaves the back of Izanami’s car and moves beside Shiemi, counting the crates before nodding. “Yeah!” he calls back. “I think so! If not, we have a back seat.” 

“Cool, bring them on.” 

Rin nods and helps Shiemi carry the boxes of vegetables to the car, taking seven of the ten crates and setting them in the cleared space in the trunk. Not all of the crates could fit, so Shiemi takes her three crates in the backseat with her. Soon everyone is settled in and they’re on the move again. 

“You have a lot of trunk space,” Shiemi comments, looking out the window as the countryside goes by. “It’s handy.” 

“Yes, it is,” Ayame comments, glancing between the road ahead and the Shiemi in the rearview. “What kind of stuff you got there?”

“A couple dozen carrots, some squash, I think we have a crate or two of tomatoes.”

“Cool. I’ll take two pounds of everything you have.” 

Shiemi passes a look of confusion to Rin, who meets it with an equally confused shrug. “I don’t know what he does,” Rin explains. 

“Uh. . .” Shiemi starts, catching Ayame’s eye in the rearview mirror. “We take cash only.”

Ayame nods in understanding. “Cool. Rin, can you get my wallet from the glove compartment? I have cash in there.” Rin nods and does as told, handing the wallet to Ayeme, who shakes his head and uses a thumb to point behind him. “Give it to her. You can get whatever I owe you outta there for the veggies.” 

Rin raises an eyebrow, but he does hand Shiemi the wallet as instructed. “You’ll hand a total stranger your wallet?” 

Ayame shrugs. “If you know her, she can’t be that bad.” 

“I know some pretty bad people.” 

“She seems like she’ll have the bite force of a donut.” 

Rin snorts loudly before slapping a hand over his mouth and looking back at Shiemi, only to find her laughing lightly as she uses her cell phone to total everything up. “You have a lot of cash,” Rin notes as he turns back around. “What are you, a drug dealer?” 

“Obviously.” The tone he uses causes Rin to hesitate and his hesitation causes Ayame to laugh. “I’m joking,” he assures. “I bartend a few times a week. I’m pretty popular.” 

“You’re a bartender?” 

“On weekends mainly,” he answers with a nonchalant shrug. “But they call me in some weeknights after school too.” 

“That’s so cool!” Rin says excitedly. “Maybe I can come and see you sometimes!”

Ayame smiles and nods in response. “That’d be cool. Hey. I think they’re hiring in the kitchen if you need a job. You like to cook, right?” 

Rin’s stomach turns. The last time he got a job, it was a construction job and he got fired for hitting someone with a two by four. He can’t even say it wasn’t his fault since he was instigating the fight in his own way. But like always,he took it too far. 

“I can’t hold a job,” he answers bleakly. “I always mess it up. I’m not the type to get a respectable job.” 

“That’s bullshit,” Ayame says firmly. “Besides, even if it is true, I’ll be there to keep you in check.”

“But-”

“I’ll tell my boss I’m bringing you in for an interview after class tonight,” Ayame continues over Rin. “First, I need to know where I’m going, guys.”

Rin blinks at the tone, but snaps out of it when Shiemi taps his arm with Ayame’s wallet. “Just bring her to my house,” he says slowly. “We can call someone from there and someone can pick up her car then.” 

Shiemi sits up and pokes her head between the seats. “Your total was twenty seven fifty for everything,” she informs. “I took thirty since you didn’t have anything smaller than fives and I’ll give you your change-”

“Keep it,” Ayame says with a quick shake of the head. “I don’t need anymore change cluttering up my place. Just throw in an extra tomato or something.”

Shiemi smiles brightly and nods. “Will do!” 

The rest of the trip is spent chatting lightly about any and everything. Rin is glad that Ayame and Shiemi are hitting it off so well, and he’s already plotting how to introduce him to everyone else. 

Too soon, though, the trip is over and Ayame is pulling into a parking spot in front of Rin’s apartment. His phone rings over the car speakers and he parks quickly to answer it, making sure to disconnect it and hold it to his ear. “Hasigawa.” 

Rin opens his door as Shiemi does the same, examining what’s in the crates beside her and sorting Ayame’s order into one. “Thanks for the ride,” Rin says, causing Ayame to smile and wave lightly. “Can you pop the trunk?” 

“Oh, yeah!” he answers, reaching down and hitting a button by the door. “No, not you. You leave the neighbors alone.” Rin pauses in his trip out the door as Shiemi exits and heads toward the trunk, causing Ayame to cover the receiver and mouthing “Amaimon” as an explanation. “You’re on house arrest, idiot,” he says as he uncovers the receiver. “You can’t just fight people anymore.” 

Rin rolls his eyes. 

“Yes, I’ll come over and talk to them for you, gimme a few. Yes. . . NO. Look, give me ten minutes and I’ll be there, ok? Bye.” Ayame pulls the phone from his ear and hits end, sighing tiredly and resting his head on the steering wheel tiredly. “I hate to rush you guys,” he says, tilting his head to look at Rin. “but Amaimon’s neighbors are getting on his nerves.Can you. . .”

Rin starts slightly and nods quickly, shuffling out the door as Shiemi leans back in hers to drop a few more vegetables in the crates. “Yeah, alright,” he says. “I’ll see you in class.” 

“Yeah, and hey! I’ll tell my boss and we can swing by my bar to see about getting you a job too, alright?” 

Rin’s stomach flips again at the mention of the job, but Ayame’s finishing tone leaves no room for argument. So he nods quietly and helps Shiemi unload the crates from the trunk. Once everything is out and into Rin’s living room, Rin and Shiemi stand in the doorway of the apartment and wave as Ayame backs out. A couple quick honks signal the final leaving and Ayame and his car disappear into the emerging sunlight. 

“He seems nice,” Shiemi comments. 

“Yeah,” Rin responds, his tone distracted and a bit worried. “What do you wear to an interview at a bar?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks if you are reading it! Please remember to comment and leave Kudos if you like this story!


	6. First Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy shit I'm updating

“Ayame got you a job interview?” Yukio asks a few hours later, his tired tone somewhat excited as he looks at Rin over the back of the couch. “Are you planning on marrying this guy? I think you should marry this guy.” 

The dish towel flies from the kitchen and smacks Yukio in the face, only to cover the fact that Rin’s face is practically glowing with the redness that took over. “Shut up,” he tries to shout through his embarrassed voice crack. “I just met the guy.” 

“And you went out on a breakfast dinner date with him on your second day meeting him,” Yukio reminds as he swipes the towel from his face. “Seems like time doesn’t really matter to you guys. Besides, he’s trying to help you get a job. I wouldn’t mind you dating-” 

This time it’s a spoon that comes flying, but misses entirely and hits the coffee table with a loud clatter. “Fuck off,” Rin calls again, appearing in the kitchen doorway and displaying the deep blush that covers his face and down his neck. “I don’t wanna date Ayame. He’s just. . . cool.” 

Shiemi appears in the doorway behind Rin. “Rin could barely look away from Ayame when we were together,” she discloses happily. “He was like a puppy.” 

“Can we get back to the fact that I have a job interview tonight!?” Rin asks, trying to hide his growing embarrassment behind anger and annoyance. “I don’t have a suit! I don’t know how to-”

“I don’t think you wear a suit to a bar interview,” Yukio comments. “Just wear some nice jeans with no holes in them and a polo or something.”

“I don’t have any polos.” 

“Button down shirt.” Rin opens his mouth. Yukio holds up a hand. “You can borrow something of mine,” he concludes for himself. “You should ask Ayame what you should wear, though. He probably knows what you should wear more than I do.” 

“That’s a good idea,” Shiemi agrees. 

Rin nods a few times, already fishing his phone from his pocket to do just that. “That’s right,” he mumbles to himself. “Ayame already has the job. He would know.” Rin scrolls through his recent calls and hits dial on Ayame’s waiting for a few rings before the lines connect. “Hey, Aya-”

“CanIcallyoubackinnasecond?Amaimonisbeingalittleshitthanksbye.”

The line disconnects as quickly as it connected and Rin has to take a second to piece together what he heard. He lowers the phone after a second and looks over at Shiemi. “He said he’d call back.”

“Why?” Yukio asks. 

“Something about Amaimon.” 

“Makes sense.” 

The three wait for a moment before the phone rings again, everyone passing each other a slightly concerned look before Rin answers. “Ayame?” 

“Sorry about that,” comes the reply, vaguely winded and almost exhausted. “Amaimon got hold of my cigarettes and was trying to smoke them all in one go cause he got bored.” 

“That doesn’t sound healthy,” Rin comments lazily. 

“Maybe. But some may argue that smoking itself isn’t healthy.” 

“Touche.”

“Anyway, wassup? I know you didn’t just call to talk about cigarette health and Amaimon. Unless you just missed me?” 

Rin’s face heats up slightly around the edges and he has to look away from everyone to hide it. “I just wanted to ask if you had any advice on how to dress for the interview tonight,” he explains in a voice he tries to keep steady. “I mean, how fancy do you have to dress for a bar interview, right?” 

“I mean, I wore black jeans and a few less spike than I normally do,” Ayame explains casually. “But then again, I didn’t wear many spikes back when I actually got the job. No one’s said anything about the spikes yet, though, so I guess you should just wear what you normally would?” 

Rin nods a few times and mentally runs down the list of what jeans are clean. “Alright,” he says. “Yukio said I should wear a button down or a polo or something?” 

Ayame snorts into the line and laughs a few times in his ear, the pure amusement in his tone causing Rin to smile to himself at the sound. “Dude, you’re working in a fucking bar kitchen,” he reminds. “You don’t need to dress up to interview for that. Shit, in this bar, you could probably show up in pajamas and as long as you have a good personality you could get the job. Besides, you have an insider with good references for you anyway, so you’re fine.” 

The assurance in Ayame’s tone causes Rin to smile some more and he nods a few more times despite the fact he won’t be seen. “Thanks, man,” he says. “I’ll see you in class.” 

“Don’t you always? Don’t forget the homework. Later kid.” 

And with that, the line disconnects and Rin sighs happily, then in distress when he realizes he did, in fact, forget the homework they were assigned last night. “Shit,” he mutters under his breath as he turns to face the other two. “Do we have- what’s that look for?” Shiemi and Yukio are both grinning broadly at Rin as if sharing a secret he’s not part of, causing Rin to pull a face of confused disgust and cringe away slightly. “You guys are starting to freak me out.” 

“You’re such a dork when you have a crush,” Yukio comments, causing Rin’s face to shift to shock and heat up again. “I haven’t seen you get this flustered over a guy in a while.” 

“Shut up!” Rin retorts through an embarrassed voice crack. “Fuck you, I have homework.” Yukio and Shiemi laugh as Rin turns and stomps up the stairs and slams the door to his room. 

#####

Ayame and Amaimon stand in Ayame’s usual place in front of the school, lit cigarettes hanging loosely between their fingers as they chat quietly. Both of them seem to be wearing the same kind of outfit, black jeans and some kind of old band shirts that looks too big on Ayame. The only differences in the outfits are the black Vans Amaimon wears instead of combat boots like Ayame does, and the fact that Ayame is wearing black, fingerless gloves and Amaimon isn’t. 

Based off that, Rin ventures an assumption that Ayame spent the night at Amaimon’s house and is wearing his clothes since he didn’t bring any himself. Rin ventures another guess that he would probably be jealous of that fact, but right now he can only feel worried about the fact that he has a job interview after class. For an actual job and not some internship Yukio managed to get for him. So yes, he’s nervous, especially since he’s almost completely on his own getting this job, and he’s not exactly the best candidate for group work. And kitchen work is definitely group work as far as he knows. 

His temper plus hot and potentially dangerous items doesn’t exactly sound safe. 

“Yo, Okumura,” Ayame calls, taking one last quick inhale of his cigarette before flicking it away. “Not gonna say anything today? Rude.”

Rin didn’t even notice he walked right by the duo on the wall in his nervousness. He can’t remember if either of them said anything other than Ayame’s initial greeting and he’s kind of upset about it, though he’d be happier if Amaimon didn’t. He stops his strides and turns to face them. “Sorry,” he says, “I’m a bit distracted.”

Ayame smiles faintly and blows his smoke through the thin part in his lips. “Nervous?” he asks, pushing himself from the wall and sauntering over. “It’s a casual thing, dude, nothing to be too nervous about.” 

Amaimon also takes a drag of his cigarette, slower and more thoughtful than Ayame’s, before motioning to them with the lit end. “You do realize that sounds like you’re fucking, right?” he says flatly. “Like, kinky sex fucking.” 

Rin’s face heats up so bad he’s sure one could fry an egg on it, but Ayame simply rolls his eyes and looks at him over his shoulder. “Don’t hate us cause it’s not you.” 

That statement causes Rin’s face to heat up again and he’s sure he’s going to pass out at how easily it rolled from Ayame’s mouth. Amaimon doesn’t get shocked like Rin does, and instead smirks smuggly. “We haven’t talked in awhile, babe,” he starts, “so you shouldn’t doubt me like that.”

Ayame snorts and turns his attention back to Rin, whose face is a mask of shocked disgust. “You look sick,” he comments matter-of-factly. “Are you really that nervous?” Rin can’t do anything but nod and Ayame coos softly and drags Rin into his arms, rubbing soothing circles on Rin’s back with his thumb. “Don’t worry, dude,” he says casually. “It’s a bar. You’re not exactly the worst we got working here. I’m sure whatever you did doesn’t compare to what the bouncer did in his past.” 

Rin is almost sure that he would be comforted by whatever Ayame’s saying, but he can’t hear it over the sound of the blood rushing in his ears. All he can focus on is the warmth of Ayame’s chest against his and the firmness of his arm on Rin’s back. All he can think is a stream of “holy shit” in various tones and speeds. He smells like cigarette smoke and some type of deodorant and it makes Rin wonder if he himself put on deodorant before he came out.

“Are you guys actually fucking?” Amaimon asks, taking the final drag of his cigarette before letting it drop and crushing it under his toe. “Cause I’m getting strong vibes that you are. Which is disgusting considering it’s Okumura.” 

Ayame scoffs in disgust and turns to face Amaimon, one arm still wrapped around Rin’s waist as he shoves the other one in his jean pocket. “I’m ace and you know it,” he shoots back. “I’m almost offended that you would ask that.”

“Ace people can still have sex,” Amaimon is quick to remind. “I’m almost offended you didn’t remember that.” 

“I’m very offended you don’t remember that I’m a sex repulsed ace.” Amaimon rolls his eyes and grumbles about time and not caring and Ayame smirks victoriously. “We should go,” he says. “Class is about to start.” 

Amaimon rolls his eyes again and makes his way over, hooking an arm around Ayame’s shoulders and dragging him -- and in toll Rin since Ayame is still holding him -- inside the school. “Whatever,” he says. “I have to shit.” 

“We’re not going with you.” 

#####

Rin’s leg bounces rapid fire in the passenger seat of Ayame’s car, his palms sweating nervously as he swipes them on his pants legs. Of course he took Ayame’s advice and wore his more comfortable clothes, solid black jeans and a red shirt, but he still feels like he should have put at least a little more effort into his appearance. Then again, Ayame never looks like he put effort in his looks. Well. . .sometimes. Does he? It’s hard to tell with all black outfits. 

“You still look like you wanna pee yourself,” Ayame comments lazily as he directs the car further and further into the city. “Can you please try to relax? You’re making my anxiety. I know you’re going to be great.” 

“Maybe I could wait a bit longer,” Rin suggests to counter it. “I could get a bit more dressed up. Type up a resume. All that.” 

“Can’t,” Ayame responds. “If we turn back now, I’m gonna be late. Besides,” he pauses to pull into a parking spot in a halfway sketchy alleyway, “we’re already here.” Ayame kills the engine and uses the key to point to a door lit by a single bulb above it, the security guard beneath the bulb looking up from his phone when the engine is switched off. “Oo, Dan is working tonight,” Ayame says excitedly as he begins the process of climbing out of the car. “You’re gonna love Dan. He’s my favorite person to work with.” 

Rin can’t see why, but at the same time, he can. Especially in Ayame’s case. The man he calls Dan is about six feet tall and looks like what Rin assumes Ayame’s future is going to be. Shaved head,dark gray stubble on his lower face, muscles as big as Rin’s head, all black outfits, sleeves of tattoos. Rin can only assume that Ayame already has the sleeves of tattoos because he always wears some sort of shirt of jacket with long sleeves, but Rin has already seen some tattoos peeking over the edges of his shirt. Whether that means that the tattoos actually covers his whole arm is debatable. 

Ayame is already out of the car by the time Rin makes his mental picture of older Ayame in his head and is already stopping in front of the bouncer and knocking fists with him. The two exchange a few words before Ayame turns and motions toward Rin and waves him over. Rin finally exits the vehicle and hopes the duo don’t notice the slight tremble he feels in his legs. “Dan, this is Rin,” Ayame introduces quickly, hooking a friendly arm around Rin’s waist again. “He says he has a temper and I’m thinking of getting him a job.” 

Dan surprises Rin by releasing a deep, booming laugh and clapping a large, heavy hand on his shoulder. “Buddy, I doubt you have a temper worse than Ayame’s,” he assures. “I once watched this guy break three bottles over one guy’s head because he wouldn’t stop reaching over the bar.” 

Rin raises an eyebrow and turns to glance at Ayame. “Just for reaching over the bar?” 

Ayame shrugs. “He kept grabbing at me,” he explains casually. “And besides, I doubt it’s any worse than when Dan threw a guy through a window for throwing a plate at someone.” 

Dan booms out another laugh and reaches around Rin to clasp Ayame’s shoulder. “You almost stabbed someone with a dirty spoon because he reached into your tip jar.” 

Ayame grins back. “You broke a guy’s arm for trying to step on your shoe.” 

“You actually cut someone with a butter knife for throwing a drink at her girlfriend.”

“You broke a guy’s car window for flipping you off. Then you dragged him FROM the broken window and threw him in a dumpster.” 

The two share another hearty laugh as Rin starts to wonder why this place hasn’t been shut down yet. He also has a passing thought that if they can get away with all this, a bit of shouting and throwing things around shouldn’t really affect anyone. 

“Alright, you two,” Dan says, shifting forward and pulling the back door open, “go on in. And, Rin was it? Don’t worry too much kid. Everyone looks rough, but not too many of them actually are.” 

“Yeah,” Ayame agrees as he steers Rin inside. “We’re the worst of them.” 

The statement simultaneously assures and worries Rin, mainly because he has a slight crush on both Ayame and Dan, and they both just admitted to being dangerous. What can he say, he has a type, and that happens to be dangerous looking. Then again, they both seem to like him, so he takes that as a sign he’s safe. Which is good considering the look of the bar they both work in. 

Dimly lit, dark painted, an entire wall of alcohol, a few pool tables and retro game stations on the opposite side of the bar, a few TVs laying various stations of news and sports, and a lot of rough looking people. Luckily, at the moment, they all look like they’re having a good time, laughing, sharing drinks, teasing each other over missed pool shots and the general feeling of camaraderie that fills the air around the bar. There are a few places that look like they were involved in some violent incident; a large, impact crack in the window, a few holes in the wall, a bar stool with a duct taped leg, and a strangely large crack in the glass top bar itself seem to jump out the most, but Rin is sure that if he looks, he’ll find some less obvious signs of a fight. 

“This place is the best,” Ayame says as they make their way toward the bar on the back wall. “A bit rough, yes. But the people are generally cool.” 

“All the rough looking ones are,” Rin agrees, disappointed greatly when Ayame removes his arm from around his waist to fit between the employee space between the bar and a side wall. He does, however, feel his mood improve when Ayame takes his hand to tug him through. There’s a door not too far ahead and Rin is led through, squinting at the bright lights of what he guesses to be the employee room/main office. 

A woman sits at the desk in the back corner of the large room, clicking away at the computer in front of her and barely looking up when Ayame and Rin come in. She smiles brightly and reveals a silver canine tooth on the bottom left side of her mouth. Like Dan, this woman’s head is also shaved and her arms are equally as large, if not larger, than Dan’s and as equally tattooed. Honestly, Rin could probably say that she’s MORE tattooed than Dan since she wears a halter top that shows a swirl of colorful tattoos that stand out against the dark skin of her neck, chest, and back. 

Rin may have to consider himself bi at this point and refuse the job if everyone at work is this attractive. 

“You must be Rin,” she greats warmly, extending a hand that reveals bright red stiletto nails. “Ayame talked you up for an hour this morning and, I gotta say, you are even cuter in person that what he was saying.” 

Ayame makes a sound of distress and Rin looks in time to watch his face light up red. “Ma D!” he whines. “You weren’t supposed to tell him that!” 

“Oh come on, Aya,” Ma D replies flippantly. “You know I’m right.” 

“Ma!” 

Ma D laughs happily as she looks Rin up and down a few times, making Rin wish he would have taken Yukio’s advice and dressed better. “You like to cook?” she asks through her smile. “Do you follow recipes or make up stuff as you move along?” 

Rin jumps slightly at the address and looks at Ayame for help, the latter of which nods his head for him to go ahead and speak. “Uh,” he starts hesitantly. “It depends on what we have available at home.” 

Ma D nods a few times and continues to look over Rin. “Ok,” she says, finalizing a decision only she knows was made. “We’ll put you on a trail run tonight and you can keep whatever tips you make. If you like it here and if you do good, we’ll start scheduling you. Sound good?”   
It takes Rin a second to process the statement in the flurry of anxious thoughts that swirl around his mind, but he jumps to attention when Ayame lightly elbows him to bring him back to reality. “Yeah!” he practically shouts in his start. “Yeah! That sounds great! Can I text my brother first to let him know I’m gonna be late?” 

“Of course, baby!” Ma D agrees in the same volume, reaching over and happily slapping Rin’s arm. It almost hurts, but Rin knows it’s in good humor and lets it go. “Go right ahead! Ayame will get you to the kitchen and Tobe will take you from there.” She switches her attention to Ayame. “Get going and have Saiko clock out. I won’t work you two too hard since you probably have homework you gotta do, but I want our newbie to get a fair share of tips before you go home.” 

“Sounds good, Ma,” Ayame says, then takes a few steps forward and drops a kiss on her cheek before turning and heading back out the door. “Alright, Rin,” he says as he passes, hooking his arm through Rin’s as he does. “It’s a pretty decent night so I hope you’re ready.” 

Rin’s sure he’s not. “I’ll be fine,” he says despite his nerves as they squeeze past who Rin guesses to be Saiko at the bar. “I’m good with my hands.” 

“There’s the confidence I was looking for,” Ayame says as the reach the kitchen door. “Fake or not, I’m glad you got it.” He lightly kicks the door open and shouts out for Tobe, releasing Rin at the sight of a short man with light brown skin and long black hair that trails down to the small of his back even in the ponytail holding it back.

He turns at Ayame’s call and reveals startling green eyes, snake bite piercings, and a silver hoop around his right eyebrow. There aren’t any tattoos that Rin can see, but judging by everyone else, he wouldn’t doubt if he had some somewhere. He’s not as muscular as everyone else he’s met, but he is pleasantly toned. Yet another attractive figure that makes Rin wonder if he’ll be more focused on the attractiveness of his coworkers than actually getting work done. 

Tobe grins brightly and sets his spatula aside, sweeping Ayame into tight hug that takes the latter off his feet. “Hey, Aya,” Tobe greets happily, spinning around slightly before stopping and letting Ayame down. “How are you? I heard about the-” 

“Shhhhh,” Ayame hushes, passing an apologetic look to Rin and frowning slightly at Tobe in the same motion. “We can talk about that after work or something. Right now. . .” He reaches over and drags Rin over by the bicep. “This is Rin. He’s taking a test run of the place. Can you split tips with him tonight?” 

Tobe smiles and Rin feels his stomach turn again. Two attractive guys smiling at him and one of them repeatedly holding and touching him? Rin is going to die here. 

“If he does the work, of course,” Tobe agrees, reaching over and clapping Rin on the arm Ayame’s not holding. “How fast can you follow a recipe?” 

“Pretty fast,” Rin says, feeling his nerves start to unwind when Ayame uses his thumb to rub circles on his arm. It’s either relaxation, or him going to a point past excited and giving him a false sense of calm. Either way, he could melt right now. “I may add a bit of my own touches if I don’t like some things, but that’s about it.” 

“Sounds about right,” Tobe says with a nod. “Alright, I got a few things going right now, but there are bound to be more coming.” His hand moves and he lightly punches Ayame in the arm. “Go on out. I got him from here,” 

Ayame smiles and nods. “Be nice to him,” he says, pointing at Tobe as he backs away toward the door. “I don’t wanna scare off the only cute, available guy here.” 

Rin’s ears turn red and Tobe’s arm replaces Ayame’s on his shoulders. “I won’t be too mean,” he assures playfully. “Besides, I’m a cake walk compared to you.”

“Don’t be fucking rude.” And with that and a few final laughs, Ayame pushes the door open and heads back out into the main bar area. “Saiko, you’re out!” 

Tobe jostles Rin under his arm a few times and releases him. “Ready, kid?” he asks, releasing Rin and moving back to flip whatever he had working on the flat top grill. “Next order’s yours.” 

That shakes Rin out of his shock and he shuffles to the sink to wash his hands. “Yeah,” he says. “I’m ready.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I'm extremely late in updating, but to be fair, I'm late in updating literally every fanfic I have going on, here and on Fanfic.net. Life's been kicking my ass to the point where I have trouble doing daily life tasks. Imma get better and try to be more consistent, but I'm starting my second year of college soon and I got shit to do with that. However, I'll still work on this stuff. Yeee! Notes over! 
> 
> Thanks for everything, yadda yadda, enter repeated thanks here. I really do love you. I'm just tired and have a headache. Yeeee! Keep up the good work y'all.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Have I actually been naming these before or nah?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I guess the world will never know. . .

Rin made sixty-eight dollars in tips tonight. Not an exceptionally high number, but it’s more money than he’s had before he started working and he earned it himself so it’s exciting. There were a few instances where Rin was sure something was going wrong, but it was mostly from the commotion outside the kitchen. Tobe told him it’s often times best to ignore it unless one is called out by name. It keeps less people out of trouble and makes it easier to tell the police that you didn’t see anything when you really didn’t. Taking the lesson to heart, Rin just settled into his half of the kitchen and kept cooking. 

He decided pretty early that he enjoys working with Tobe. Tobe’s not too pushy with questions, but gives very detailed answers when Rin asks any, especially when he asked about the other workers. It seems that no one would really mind Tobe telling details of their life because they’re all pretty open about it themselves. Rin figured that everyone had interesting lives, but he never would’ve imagined how interesting they were. 

Ma D and Dan have been dating since before they opened the bar together, since high school actually, which makes total sense given their appearance, and got married in the bar not too long ago. Dan identifies as nonbinary and was the first person Ayame came out to when he started working at the bar. Tobe himself identifies as bigender and showed Rin the pronoun necklace he has hanging around his neck and thankfully displays the fact that he is identifying with male pronouns right now. Rin makes a mental note to check it every time he comes in so he doesn’t offend anyone. Tobe is in a polyamorous relationship with another bigender person and a cisgender male, and often times his partner will bake cookies or cakes and bring them to the bar because everyone treats Tobe well. Saiko is in a relationship with a lovely college girl who doesn’t like Ayame because she’s convinced he’s trying to steal Saiko away from her. Rin raises an eyebrow at that, but doesn’t have a chance to ask a question about it because three orders come in at that exact moment. He may ask about it later. 

Rin also learned that Amaimon used to work at the bar before he got arrested and put on house arrest, and Rin honestly started reconsidering his job here. He recalls a few of the fights he and Amaimon got into in the past and started tallying up how many of those landed him in the hospital with wounds Yukio couldn’t fix. He was under Father Fujimoto’s insurance back then, so the bills weren’t to devastating to pay after it came out. However, he doesn’t have the same privilege he did back then, and the bills might take out a lot more out of Yukio’s pockets even with insurance. Yukio is already putting up with so much of his bull crap already, he doesn’t want to take on a hospital bill on top of it. 

It’s Tobe’s turn to raise an eyebrow after Rin discloses a bit of his rocky history with Amaimon, genuinely surprised as he poured a bit of wine into the skillet he was working on. Surprisingly, Rin learns that Amaimon doesn’t really have a problem with anyone while at the bar. Well, he has a problem with assholes since he’s apparently a bouncer here, and the people in the kitchen only really see him when it’s closing time and everyone’s helping clean. Rin is almost surprised at the discovery of Amaimon being a bouncer, but then he remembers how strong the scrawny man is and it all makes sense. 

According to Tobe, Amaimon doesn’t really care about people unless they get on his nerves and force themselves into his attention. He’d much rather be out and about on his own, exploring the country since he only came here a couple years ago. Turns out Amaimon is quite the tourist, always bringing in some sort of trinket to show off to Ayame and dragging him places after brining in brochures he printed from the internet. Later on, Ayame’s social media will be flooded with pictures Amaimon made him take during their often impromptu trips with pictures of shops and food and souvenirs and the occasional selfie. 

Turns out, Amaimon isn’t as bad as Rin originally thought and he only fights when he’s particularly annoyed. It makes since given the fact that Amaimon doesn’t seem to care much about Rin nowadays. That could also be contributed to Ayame being there, but Rin will take it. The last thing he wants is a fight after being two years without one. 

The added conversation helped the shift move fast and soon it was the end of the night. Partons were ushered out by Dan and Ayame and the remain staff, including Ma D herself, cleaned up. Rin had no problems with doing the dishes he was assigned as a newbie and Tobe went ahead and divided up the tips as they chatted during the work. Again the conversation helped everything move faster and everyone cleared out relatively quickly after that. 

Now Rin happily fiddles with the bills and loose change in his pocket, barely listening to the heavy drums and screeching guitars playing quietly in the background as he rides in Ayame’s car. Rin goes on excitedly about most of the things Tobe told him, mainly focusing on how Amaimon might not be as much of an asshole as he thinks and laughing loudly when Ayame corrects him to say that he is mistaken and Amaimon is, in fact, an asshole. He leaves out a lot of the details Ayame is sure to know and skips between the stories he was told and the events back in the kitchen -- Tobe accidentally setting one of the microwaves on fire while talking, Rin dropping an entire plate on the floor right before it went out -- and takes up the whole drive with his energy. 

Rin is about to lapse into another story when Ayame motions to the windshield with his hand. “I love your energy, dear,” he starts, “but you’re home.” 

A blink or two goes by in a moment of silence as Rin process the words through his excited whirlwind of thoughts and directs his attention to the front, his eyes widening in surprise when he’s met with the sight of his front door. “Oh shit,” he says. “Shit, I rambled the whole time. Did I even let you say anything?”

“You’re fine, babe,” Ayame assures, shifting the car in park to rise slightly and slide his pack of cigarettes from his back pocket. His lighter is retrieved from the center console and soon Ayame has a lit cigarette between his lips. “You’re cute when you’re excited,” he goes on through his first exhale as he finally moves to crack a window and drop his lighter and pack into their place. “Your eyes light up all excited-like and you talk with your hands a lot. It’s cute.”

Rin is incredibly grateful for the dimness of the lights in the car because he knows he’s beet red right now. He almost forgot his crush on Ayame with all the events of the night still playing in his head, so now that it’s just the two of them, all his feelings come rushing back. Ayame’s compliments and calling him babe aren’t a bad thing, but added to everything that happened doesn’t really help him in his attempts to calm down for the night. 

“I have to go!” Rin shouts, opening the door and trying to rush out, just to be yanked back by the seat belt he still has on. Ayame laughs, not out of malice of course, then chokes on the smoke he inhaled and ends up in a coughing fit. Rin laughs with Ayame and soon they’re both doubled over as best they can in their current situation in their laughter, occasionally broken when Ayame has to hack up a lung. The whole ordeal lasts about two minutes and then they lapse into a fit of breathy chuckles.

“You’re a dork,” Ayame huffs, lifting the cigarette back to his lips and taking a slower inhale. “Get out my car.”

“Asshole,” Rin laughs again and takes the time to unbuckle his seat belt and grab the back pacl he almost forgotten in the back seat this time before stepping out. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

“See ya.” 

Rin shuts the door and makes his way to his apartment, his face beginning the first stages of hurting from smiling too much. He’s grinning the entire way to his door and unzips his back pack to look for his key. Then he shifts it in front of him and looks harder. Then he sets the bag on the ground and dumps everything out to look through it that way. 

“What’s the problem, Okumura?” Ayame calls from the car, sticking his head slightly out the window and letting another stream of smoke out. 

Of course it’s not here. He was in a panicked daze when he left evening. Rin grins sheepishly and clears his throat nervously. “I. . .left my key in the house tonight. . . .I’m locked out. . .”

As expected, Ayame laughs loudly as he reaches out and taps the ash from the end of his cigarette. “You’re a huge dork,” he says, taking another quick inhale before dropping the half finished stick out the window. “I can break in if you want? You might need to replace the lock if I do, though.” 

“I don’t want anyone breaking in,” Rin says as he starts shoving the contents of his backpack back inside of said bag. “I’ll just wait outside until Yukio gets back.”

“That’ll be too long,” Ayame rejects quickly. “Someone might call the cops on you. Get in, I’ll take you to Yukio.” Rin starts to shake his head, but Ayame keeps going before his own rejection can hit the air. “I’m not leaving you out here. It’s going to rain.”

The solid determination in Ayame’s voice lets Rin know that there’s no room for argument. So his smile shifts from sheepish to defeated and he makes his way back to the passenger seat of the car. “Which hospital is it?” Ayame asks, shifting into reverse as Rin buckles up and drops his bag back in the back seat. 

“He’s taking a shift at the children’s hospital tonight,” Rin informs, earning an impressed ‘ooo’ from Ayame in response. “Yeah. He has his license in normal medical care and child care. He mainly works shifts in the trauma unit and emergency room though.” 

“That’s really cool,” Ayame says through a growing smile. “Yukio sounds really great.”

Rin’s face lights up. “He is!” he says excitedly, shifting in his seat to fully face Ayame as he speaks. “He graduated high school AND college at the top of his class EARLY! Plus he got a full ride scholarship through both normal college and medical school! And he was taking some night classes for the med school WHILE HE WAS STILL IN COLLEGE! And he still graduated early from everything!”

Ayame smiles and glances over to him from the corner of his eye. “You’re really proud of him,” he comments contently. “That’s cool.”

“I am proud of him!” Rin declares proudly. “At least he has his shit together since I’m a clear fuck-up.”

“I’m a fuck-up too,” Ayame says with a shrug. “The important thing is that you’re trying. I’m sure he’s proud of you for that.”

Rin ponders the thought for a second before smiling widely. “I think he is!” he cheers, reaching over and patting Ayame’s arm. “Thanks!” 

Ayame nods a couple times and smiles back, returning his attention to the front as he pulls out onto the main road. The songs change and Ayame visibly brightens, reaching over and turning the volume up slightly and starting a quiet singalong. Well, it starts out quiet, but Rin realizes that it’s a song that he knows too and soon he’s singing with the second singer since it’s a duet. Ayame is startled at first, but the grins and then they’re both singing happily at the top of their lungs as they make their way to the hospital. Rin is willing to admit they sound pretty awful, but he has fun and that’s all that matters. 

Thanks to a combination of the children’s hospital being closer to the house and Ayame’s almost reckless speeding, they manage to find a spot and kill the engine just as the song ends. Ayame sighs happily then turns to Rin as they unbuckle their seatbelts. “If you tell anyone about that, I’m going to kill you.”

Rin laughs and pushes open his door, stepping out and nudging it shut as Ayame does the same and locks up. He waits for Ayame to level with him before they make their way to the main entrance and head inside. Since he’s not normally involved in Yukio’s work life, it takes him a second to try and orientate himself with the place. Ayame, however, takes him by the hand and leads the way through the confusing maze of hallways and somehow ends up in the trauma wing like he wanted. 

A slight confusion works on to Rin’s face and he raises an eyebrow. “How did you-”

“I was in and out of here a lot,” Ayame informs, switching from a casual grab to one where their fingers are interwoven with each others as they make their way to the nurse’s station. “I was a fighter even growing up. People didn’t take me serious when I said no, so I made them. And I liked climbing trees even though I wasn’t good at it and fell out a lot. Plus I got hit by a couple cars.”

Rin’s eyes widen in horror and he almost stopped had Ayame kept walking. “A couple cars!”

“Hi,” Ayame greets once they reach the front. “We’re looking for Dr. Okumura. His brother locked himself out of the house and we need his key.”

The nurse looks up almost skeptically and looks them both over. “Does this brother have ID?”

Rin nods and reaches into his pocket with his free hand, pulling out his state ID card. He would have pulled out his licence if he had one, but he doesn’t so state ID it is. 

The nurse examines it and hands it back after a moment. “Lemme see if he’s available,” he says as he pushes himself to a stand. “Should I just say his brothers. . . “

“Oh, I’m not their brother,” Ayame responds. “I’m just a driver.” 

The nurse glances down at their clasped hands and smiles as if he just got let in on some sort of secret. “Ok,” he says with a wink. “I’ll see if I can find him for you. You two can take a seat for a second.”

“Thanks.” Ayame, again, takes the lead and weaves them through the chairs to a pair closest to the exit door. Rin, however, can’t speak or move on his own due to the shock of the look the nurse gave them. Does he think they’re dating? Should Rin be worried if he does? Why is it a problem if anyone does think they’re dating? Isn’t that what he wants? 

“You’re turning red,” Ayame notes, closing his eyes and resting his head against the wall behind him. “Are you embarrassed or something?”

Rin shakes his head. “I don’t think so,” he says. “I mean, I’m just kind of worried that the nurse thinks we’re dating. . . Not that I’m embarrassed that he might! I just-”

“I mean, I wouldn’t mind dating you later,” Ayame says simply, cracking his eye open and glancing over at him slightly. “We’d have to get to know each other first cause I’m sure we have a lot of shit going on, but yeah. You seem chill enough to date someday.” 

An audible record scratch is heard right when Rin’s mind realizes what Ayame said. Sadly, or luckily, he doesn’t have time to respond before the nurse calls them back up. Rin just goes through the motions of following Ayame to the front and barely hears it when the nurse talks again. “Dr. Okumura is in an emergency surgery right now.”

Ice drops in Rin’s stomach and the previous heat drains from his face with all of his blood. “What?”

The nurse must sense Rin’s distress, not that he’s trying to be sneaky about it, and shakes his head. “Dr. Okumura is PERFORMING emergency surgery right now,” he clarifies. “The doctor himself is fine. Sorry for the mix up.” 

Ayame squeezes Rin’s hand for assurance as Rin sighs heavily in relief and smiles a the nurse. “Thank you,” he says. “Can you tell him we’ll be at my house and ask him to give Rin a call when he gets a second. After he takes a break of course.”

“Yes. . .sir?” 

Ayame’s smile widens and he nods, earning a relieved smile from the nurse as he returns the nod. “Thank you!” And Ayame leads the way back outside. 

Rin’s true energy levels are starting to drop. From working to hearing Ayame admit he wouldn’t mind dating him and now the shock of the misunderstanding just now, Rin is exhausted. As if his body was waiting for that exact though, he yawns loudly and moves his free hand to cover his mouth. “You can nap in the car,” Ayame says as they break apart and move to their respective sides of the car. “I don’t live too far from here, but it’s long enough for you to get some decent sleep in. Then you can take the guest room ‘till Yukio calls.”

Rin nods and climbs in the seat, closing the door and barely getting his seatbelt on before letting his head fall against the window. He’s asleep before they turn onto the main road again. Like last time, Rin’s dreams are weird, buildings burning and blankets flying away and Father Fujimoto screaming at him yet again. This time, all that comes out is a poppy anime theme song. The only difference is the fact that Father Fujimoto looks like he doesn’t want to be singing the poppy music. In fact, the longer the time goes on, the more annoyed he looks. 

The burning building collapses behind them and Rin starts awake, the smell of smoke adding to the distress he feels upon waking. His eyes fly open and he thrashes for a second before realizing he’s still in Ayame’s car. 

“Ok, you look stressed,” Ayame’s voice says, drawing Rin’s attention from wherever it was before, “so I’ll ignore the fact that you almost smacked me just then.”

Ayame is smoking. That’s where the smell is coming from. Not an actual fire. It’s not the church this time. Father Fujimoto is-

Father Fujimoto is dead. 

“Stop the car!” 

“We’re at a stop light?”

Rin struggles against the seat belt for a moment and practically tears the door from its hinges when he throws it open, barely hearing Ayame’s cries of distress as he stumbles to the side of the road and vomits in the grass. Something happens in the background but Rin can barely hear it over the sound of his stomach voiding. Soon, though, a hand is pressed against his back and he lashes out, throwing his arm up as he straightens and stumbling backwards. Ayame stands where he just was, hands up in surrender and a concerned look on his face. Once he realizes he’s not in danger, he turns and throws up again. 

Vomiting quickly turns to dry heaves turns to panting and he slowly lowers himself to sit, elbows on his knees and hands on his face as he tries to calm down. There’s a moment of hesitant feet shuffling before the feet approach, a cold hand pressing against the back of his neck as Ayame crouches down beside him. 

“Hey,” Ayame says, gently removing Rin’s hands from his face and tilting his chin up to look him in the eyes. Or just hold as much eye contact as he can. Ayame’s eyes continuously flick between Rin’s eyes and some point just beyond his ear. Has he always been this bad at eye contact? “I think -- I think,” he emphasizes, “that you’re having some sort of panic attack. I’m going to ask you a few yes or no questions, ok? Can you answer a few?” 

Rin can’t seem to find his voice at the moment, so he offers a simple nod of the head in place of a vocal answer. “Wonderful,” Ayame says. “Has this happened before?” Rin shakes his head. “Ok. Did you do the homework yet?”

What? Rin shakes his head. “Cool. Neither have I. Do you know what it is?” Head shake. “Alright. We can talk about it later, alright. Speaking of school, did you see what the teacher was wearing tonight?” Somehow Rin manages a smile and nods. “Ridiculous. I mean, those shoes with that hat? Hideous.” Rin laughs a few breaths and nods in agreement. “But hey, people live their own lives. Right?” 

The conversation wasn’t long, but Rin already feels better. “I suppose,” he responds, earning a smile and nod from Ayame in response. “It was still awful.”

“I know, right.” A bit of thunder rolls off in the distance and pulls Ayame’s attention in the direction they were moving before they had to pull over. “That’s coming pretty fast,” Ayame notes more to himself than anything, then turns to Rin again. “Do you need help moving?” 

“I got it,” Rin assures, slowly pushing himself to his feet as Ayame does the same. “What happened?”

Ayame motions to his car. “I think you were having a panic attack or something,” he explains as they make their way to the car. “Not a full one yet, which is why it was so easy to pull you out of it. I don’t know what caused it and you don’t have to tell me, but I would recommend telling Yukio-”

Rin’s eyes widen in horror and he shakes his head quickly. “I can’t do that,” he rejects. “I’m already too much of a pain in his ass to add something else on top of that.”

Ayame’s hand is on the handle of his door when Rin started talking, so he hesitates and frowns instead of going in. “Rin-”

“No,” Rin states firmly, his tone a lot harder than he’s ever used with Ayame before. “I can’t do that to him.” 

Something flashes in Ayame’s eyes and he drops his attention fully to the car door he still holds onto. “Alright,” he relents. “It’s up to you.” The door is finally opened. “Come on. I wanna get home before the rain hits.” 

Rin hums an almost bitter response and climbs in the car beside Ayame, slamming the door in a way that makes the latter jump harsly. Some of the annoyance and exhaustion -- he didn’t get as much sleep as he would have liked and even that was terrible at best thanks to his dream -- melts from his core and he almost apologizes, but even the half amount of sourness he feels is enough to keep him from doing that. So the rest of the ride is spent in silence, save the music that plays so quietly in the background Rin can’t make out the lyrics. 

The car stops not too long after that and the engine is switched off, the deeper silence bringing with it the sound of the light rain that begins to fall against the roof. Neither of the duo wastes time in talking or explaining, moving silently as they unbuckle their seat belts and step out into the cold night rain. Ayame takes the lead, fiddling with and selecting a key from his ring and hopping up the three porch steps in one movement. Rin doesn’t take the time to examine anything as he mechanically goes through the actions of making his way up the stairs and into the house, instead focusing on making it somewhere without passing out. 

Ayame must sense Rin’s palpable exhaustion, not that he’s trying to hide it from anyone, because he only takes one look as he’s slipping his shoes off and huffs through his nose. “This way to the guest room,” he says quietly, leading the way to the stairs and the bedroom down that hall. 

Despite the casual pace Ayame uses, Rin finds himself struggling to keep up. His entire body feels like lead and his head is too foggy to try and relearn how to walk. Thankfully the house isn’t that big and the room isn’t too far and Rin soon finds himself falling face first on the bed he’s offered. 

“If you need anything, I’m downstairs,” Ayame says as Rin pulls the blanket back to make himself comfortable. “Night.”

Rin thinks he mumbles a response, but all he can guarantee is the fact that he’s out as soon as the door closes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so my life is clearly a nightmare and scheduling is a bitch and a half. I've just decided that since I'm in college, that comes first, so I'm going to keep updating within two weeks of each other. Cool? Yeah! 
> 
> Thanks for everything guys, especially your patience! Keep on commenting and leaving Kudos and all that good stuff! Love you all!


	8. The next day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've tried to write this chapter for a few weeks and it wouldn't flow at first. But here we are!

The first thing Rin notices when he wakes up is the bed is too big. Since he and Yukio are on their own, their apartment doesn’t need to be extremely big. Decent-sized, yes. Big enough for them, definitely. But Yukio got the bigger room of the two, meaning Rin can only fit a twin bed comfortably in his. The bed he wakes up on is at least a full. 

Confusion causes him to furrow his brow and crack an eye open to examine the room around him. The first thing he notices, the small tree in the corner. Understandably, more confusion fills him and he fully opens his eyes, smothering a yawn as he pushed himself to sit up. A queen bed, large standing dresser, full body mirror on the door, wardrobe and closet, and a few succulents on the window sill. Plus the room is clean. It’s definitely not his. 

“Yeah, he should be fine now,” a new voice says from outside the open window. “I think he had some sort of emotional breakdown, but it passed. . . Mm-hm. He’s still sleeping.”

Ayame. That’s who’s talking. Right, because he stay over at Ayame’s place last night. From what he can hear, Rin assumes he and whoever is on the other end of the line are talking about him.

“Yeah, I’ll bring him home whenever he wakes up. After he eats of course. He’s going to be hungry. Emotions and shit takes a lot outta a person. . . It’s fine, Yukio. . . Yes, I’m sure.” 

Rin’s stomach growls. Time to eat. He pushes himself from the blankets -- almost upset at the fact that he’s still dressed -- and stretches his arms over his head. A deep yawn pushes from his core as he finally makes his way out the door and downstairs. Since he didn’t get a chance to last night, Rin takes the time now to finally look at where he is. 

There are various pictures of places, some people, a lot of plants, and a few animals taped to the walls of the hallway, alongside leafy green plants hanging in planters from the ceiling. Rin almost has to duck to avoid them. There’s also a viney plant wound around the banister on the staircase and ends in a colorful pot on the bottom. In the living room, a black leather -- more than likely fake given who he’s dealing with -- wrap around sofa rests against the wall with the windows and a dark wood coffee table sits in front of that. He also makes note of a few empty prescription bottles sitting amongst the other clutter on the table as he continues to move. A large, wall-mounted TV hangs on the wall in front of the staircase with a case of DVDs underneath. A few older gaming systems also sit on the shelves of the case and a few games Rin always wanted to play sits beside them. 

The smell of cigarette smoke leads Rin to the kitchen and out the back door to the porch where Ayame leans against the railing facing away from the door. A lit cigarette burns lazily between the fingers of his right hand as his lift holds his cell phone to his ear. “Alright, yeah, I’ll have him call you when he wakes up. . . If his phone is dead, he can use mine.”

Rin clears his throat. “Morning.”

Ayame jumps roughly and whips around, clutching his phone to his chest and breaking his cigarette between his fingers with the force of his start. “Holy shit!” he gasps. “You scared the piss out of me, Rin!” 

“I noticed,” Rin says with a nod. “Yukio wants to talk to me?” 

Ayame nods and grinds his broken cigarette into the ashtray beside his arm as he extends the phone to Rin. “Shit head,” he grumbles as Rin accepts. “Now I need another one.” 

Rin smiles and moves the phone to his ear as he watches Ayame slide his pack of cigarettes from his pajama pants pocket. “Morning, Yukio.”

“It’s almost one in the afternoon,” Yukio corrects, “but I’ll let it go since you just woke up.”

“It’s almost ONE!?” Rin repeats, pulling the phone away so he can check the time. Twelve forty-one. Almost one o’clock. “What the hell! Why didn’t anyone wake me up!?”

Ayame shrugs as he releases the first inhale of his new cigarette. “I tried,” he informs. “You just mumbled something about Yukio and breakfast, so I left it alone.”

“I tried to call you,” Yukio says. “You didn’t answer. I would have been worried if Ayame hadn’t answered his phone.”

“What time did you call?” Rin asks, replacing the phone against his ear. 

“After surgery, so around midnight maybe.”

“How did that go anyway?” 

“It went well. I can’t go into details because of legal reasons, but the patient will definitely make a full recovery.”

Rin smiles widely. “I’m glad.”

“So are we. Anyway, what time do you plan on coming back? You still have to shower before class, right?”

“It’s Saturday.”

“Is it?” Yukio pauses to yawn into the receiver. “I don’t have work today. I would come get you, but Ayame insists on bringing you home.” 

There’s a hint of something teasing in his voice that causes Rin to roll his eyes. “You need to sleep,” he reminds. “I’ll be back after I eat.” 

“Sounds fine with me,” Yukio agrees. “Just don’t be too loud when you come in. This is the first day off I’ve had in a while and I’m tired. Oh, how did your first day of work go?”

“I’ll tell you tomorrow. Go to sleep.” 

Yukio yawns again. “Alright. Behave.” 

“I’m not a child.” 

“Really?”

Rin hangs up the phone and passes it back to Ayame, inhaling deeply when the cigarette smell hits his nose. “I’m not giving you one,” Ayame says before Rin can even ask. “I know that look on your face. Don’t start. They’ll kill you.”

“I used to smoke before,” Rin informs. “Besides, if they’re so bad for you, why do you still smoke?’

“Because if I don’t, I’ll actually kill someone.” 

“And if you keep smoking, you’ll kill yourself.” 

Ayame smiles and exhales through his nose. “That’s the plan.” A tangible awkwardness fills the air and Ayame laughs lighty. “I’m half joking, kid,” he assures. “I can’t die. No one’s gonna take care of my plants.”

The ‘half’ part of the statement causes Rin to hesitate, but he doesn’t voice his concerns. “I was wondering about all the plants,” he admits instead. “How many do you have?”

Ayame shrugs and lifts the cigarette to his lips again. “Don’t know,” he says. “All I know is I buy a new plant everytime I get sad. So I’m assuming I have a lot since I have depression and get sad a lot.”

Which opens up the conversation of: “You have empty pill bottles on your table?” Rin reminds. “I don’t know if. . .”

“I meant to get them refilled,” Ayame says on his exhale. “I-” A faint buzzing startles him and he glances down at the phone in his hand. “-don’t know this number.” He slides the answer key anyway and looks over at Rin. “Go eat breakfast. I’ll be in.” The phone is lifted to his ear. “Hello?” 

Rin almost makes a jab at his mundane answering message, but doesn’t get a chance since Ayame’s voice changes to what could be considered professional and he waves him away. An eyebrow rises, but Rin doesn’t question it out loud and slips back inside to raid the kitchen. He pokes through the fridge and cabinets and is mildly disappointed by the lack of meat. He then remembers Ayame telling him that he doesn’t eat meat and he gets more disappointed that he didn’t remember that. Maybe he could scramble some eggs to be basic. Or wait, does he have stuff for omelets? Maybe they can have that.

With a decision in mind, Rin sets back to the fridge and gets to work. He makes quick work of the egg whisking and vegetable chopping and the first omelet is being poured. “Sorry bout that,” he says, grinding the cigarette end into the ashtray in his hands. “Amaimon’s parole officer.”

Another eyebrow is raised as Rin sprinkles a handful of vegetables into the pan. “Why did Amaimon’s parole officer call you?” 

The ashtray is set on the porch rail outside and Ayame huffs. “Amaimon is getting antsy and wants to start working again,” he says. “The P.O. wants to know how he worked and stuff. I think he’s going to start working again.”

He might as well ask. “What did you say? Tobe told me he was a chill guy unless someone else is an asshole and he drags you to places to take tourist pictures.” 

A fond smile tugs up Ayame’s lips and Rin could melt. “Yeah,” he hums, “life with Amaimon isn’t boring, that’s for sure.” He crosses his arms and leans against the door frame. “Your pan is hot.” The reminder shakes Rin from his thoughts and he whirls, swearing under his breath and nudging the the omelet with the spatula. “To answer your question,” Ayame goes on as Rin cooks, “Amaimon is pretty chill when other people are. Since Tobe told you about him, you know he’s a bouncer. I told the P.O. that he doesn’t have much in terms of a temper unless he’s pushed-”

Rin can’t help but snort. “He seemed to snap with me all the time.”

Ayame shrugs. “He is also an asshole who likes to fight. I didn’t tell his P.O. though because he is trying to get his shit together now.” 

“Didn’t you have to go stop him from burning stuff, fighting his neighbors, and smoking an entire pack of cigarettes in one go?”

“I also didn’t tell his P.O. that he’s reckless as shit when he gets bored,” Ayame amends. “He is trying though. I know he lied about trying to smoke the cigarettes to get me to his house so I could paint his nails, so it’s a start.”

“So he actually tried to fight the neighbor and burn shit?”

“Look, man, no one’s perfect.”

“That’s the understatement of the century.”

“Oh, fuck off.” 

They share a laugh and Rin folds the omelet in half, pressing it down with his spatula so that it gives a satisfying hiss.

“Oh, are you going to be ok if Amaimon does get his job back?” Ayame asks. “I could make sure you don’t have shifts at the same time if you aren’t.”

Rin’s grip tightens around the spatula. “I’ll be fine,” he says. “Everyone says he’s cool, so-”

“It doesn’t matter what everyone else says,” Ayame interrupts. “I asked if you’re going to be ok.” 

The sudden seriousness in Ayame’s tone causes Rin to furrow his eyebrows and turn to look over his shoulder. Ayame, still standing in the same pose he was in before, seems to have a more mature air around him then the one that was previously there. More serious and concerned for his well-being. Rin admits, he’s kind of scared at the shift in emotions, but attracted to Ayame’s more serious side as well. 

“I’m fine,” he assures to keep his mind on track. “We haven’t had any problems at school and we have to see each other one on one there for a few hours. I’m pretty sure I can handle a few more hours with him when I don’t have to see him.”

The mood shift is gone and Ayame smiles lazily once again. “Cool,” he says, then covers his mouth with a fist to yawn deeply. “I’ll still try not to schedule you two together too much in case shit happens.” 

“Shit won’t happen,” Rin assures as he uses to spatula to lift the omelet up. “Can I get a plate?” 

“Get it yourself,” Ayame says, finally pulling the door closed and stolling over to sit on a chair in front of the table. “You’ve been through most of my kitchen already. I’m surprised you didn’t find one then.” 

“I wasn’t looking for dishes,” Rin counters as he sets the food back in the skillet and moves to the cabinets. “I was looking for food.” 

“You weren’t too far away from your destination,” Ayame hums as he rests his head in his hands. “You just weren’t paying attention.”

“It’s not my house. I wasn’t aware I was going to be cooking. Besides, this IS my first time here.”

“But you still went through stuff to find food to cook. Maybe your domestic instincts only go so far.” 

“I don’t have any domestic instincts.” Rin opens yet another cabinet and smiles when he finds a stack of plates and bowls. “A-ha.”

“You have more domestic instincts than I do,” Ayame assures as he watches Rin work. “I haven’t cooked anything for myself in months.” 

“What have you been doing then?” Rin asks as he finally plates the first omelet. 

Ayame shrugs and stands. “I mainly snack,” he admits as he trails forward and accepts the plate Rin offers. “Or I just. . .don’t eat.” 

“That doesn’t sound healthy. Don’t your parents worry?”

Another shrug as Ayame retrieves two forks from the needed drawer and sets one on the counter. “I haven’t talk to my parents in a while,” he says. “So I doubt it.” 

Rin’s eyebrows pull together again as he pours another omelet. “Why’s that?” 

There’s a pause. “I don’t really wanna talk about it,” Ayame says quietly. 

“Sorry. I didn’t-”

“It’s not a big deal,” Ayame say before Rin could finish. “It’s just still raw. Plus, you’re still kind of a stranger to me. I don’t-”

“Wanna spill your guts to someone you just met a few days ago,” Rin finishes for him. “I get it. There are things I don’t even talk to Yukio about and I’ve known him my whole life. Literally.”

“Twins are still different people,” Ayame says as he stabs a piece from his omelet and takes a bite. “It makes- Oh my god, this is amazing!” He stabs and takes another bite before he finishes the first one and shoves it in his mouth with the first bite as Rin drops his omelet fillings in. “I mean, I know you said you can cook, but shit! This is amazing!”

Rin’s face turns pink around the edges and he smiles into the skillet. “Well, I lived in a house of only guys at a point, so we learned fast.” 

Ayame finishes his bite and leans his hip against the counter. “Where was your mom?” he asks. “Did she teach you something, or were you adopted by a gay couple or. . .”

Rin tenses harsly and clears his throat. “My mom died during childbirth,” he says. “My grandfather took us in after we were born.” He glances at Ayame from the corner of his eye and sees the clear shock written on his face. “Don’t worry,” he assures through a forced smile. “I came to terms with it a long time ago. It doesn’t really bother me anymore.” Even he knows it’s a lie.

It takes another minute for Ayame to gather himself and he too clears his throat as he digs his fork into his food. “I’m sorry,” he says anyway. “I-”

“Stop,” Rin says, waving the spatula a few times to dismiss the sentence before it ends. “You didn’t know and you wouldn’t have unless you asked. It’s just the process of getting to know each other.”

“Well the process is slow,” Ayame decides, dropping to the floor and sitting cross legged besides where Rin stands. “Let’s speed it up. Give me the quick and dirty about your life and at least one secret. After you finish making your omelet of course.”

Rin jumps slightly and looks down to Ayame after folding his eggs in half. “Now?”

“If you want.” Pause for a bite. “It’ll help this whole friendship thing move along faster. It’s how me and Amaimon did it.”

“And it worked?”

“Clearly. It gets all the pressure out of the way and it makes you feel closer to the person in general once you know more about their life.”

“Makes sense I guess.” The omelet is finished and put on a plate as Rin turns the burner off and slides the skillet to the side. Then he grabs his fork and mimics Ayame’s posture on the floor. “Ok. Let’s talk.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, I know this is uber late but life is a nightmare. I have a lot of stuff planned out for the next few chapters and a few angsty/fluffy bits coming up. I just have to get through college to get them posted. Yeah. Yay. 
> 
> Thanks for everyone who stuck around through this shit and to everyone who leave kudos and comments! Y'all are awesome! Keep it up!

**Author's Note:**

> If you made it this far, thanks for the read and please don't forget to leave kudos and comment if you liked! Thank you!


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